


An Obedient Son And A Girl In Love

by orphan_account



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Action, Aged-Up Characters, Akuma fighting, Akumas, Akumatised Tom Dupain, Angst with a Happy Ending, Betrayal, Emile Agreste is dead, F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Original Akuma, Romance, Seduction, but adrien is very bad at it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-28
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-05-30 01:21:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15085910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Gabriel reveals his malicious alter ego to his son and asks him to do the unthinkable to grant his wish; steal Ladybug’s Miraculouses. Adrien has to find it within himself to betray his partner, who in turn finds herself becoming closer to Chat Noir……





	1. Yes Father

**Author's Note:**

> FYI This fic won't include any of the season 2 superheroes or superpowers. It's a very Season 1 Fic :)  
> -Billi

Adrien Agreste was woken from a contented sleep by the sudden appearance of his Father's assistant, Natalie. Her rapid opening of the doorway to the teenager's room shone a bright and disorientating light that hurt Adrien’s eyes and sent Plagg out of his usual sleeping spot and quickly into the safety of his Master's pocket. Adrien heard Natalie announce formally “Your Father wishes to see you”.

“What, right now?” asked Adrien, disoriented and still recovering from the shock of Natalie’s rude awakening.

“Immediately” Natalie, turned away from Adrien as if to indicate that he should follow her. Adrien rose slowly and carefully, as his room was still bathed in darkness.

He trailed after Natalie, his mind trying to locate the reason that his Father could possibly want to see him at such a time. Had he committed some inexcusable indiscretion recently? Besides his activities as Chat Noir, not that he could think of.

The pair arrived at Gabriel Agreste’s office, which was abandoned and cloaked in the same darkness and silence as the rest of the house. Adrien felt extremely confused, _why had Natalie brought him here?_

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Natalie walked over to the Klimt-style painting of Adrien’s Mother and beckoned Adrien to follow. Adrien joined her and felt the usual tang of grief and sadness that came from being reminded of his Mother; of the woman who had suddenly died, leaving behind a gap that tore his Father apart and was always growing, making their relationship unbearable.

Natalie pressed a button and Adrien felt the ground below him descend, as the portrait rose up to the heavens. Adrien jolted in surprise but Natalie seemed unfazed by the sudden change in gravity. The small platform that was carrying them, after half a minute of Adrien asking where they were going and Natalie just replying with “the basement”, suddenly drew to a halt and the two of them stood outside of a pair of sliding doors, that opened to reveal a large, extremely dark room, with the only source of light being a circular window about a stone’s throw from where Adrien stood. It was impossible to gauge how big the room really was, because it was so dark. The only object that Adrien could identify was a tall and slender figure, his back facing Adrien.

Natalie pushed Adrien into the room before the doors closed on herself and Adrien was left alone with the mysterious figure.

“Adrien” called out the figure, his back still turned to Adrien.

“Father?” Adrien recognised the voice.

“I know that you are Chat Noir” Gabriel continued.

Adrien’s stomach dropped. He really was in trouble now. Being a superhero was against pretty much every rule that his Father imposed.

 _How had he found out?_ Adrien wondered. But it didn't matter. Whether he was caught on one of his house's security cameras, or by a paparazzi, the outcome would be the same.

Adrien prepared himself for whatever punishment would be coming his way. Gabriel would definitely take away his Miraculous, and then probably send him away to a military academy far from the city. He had threatened it before.

“But don't worry.” His Father said. “You're not the only one in this family keeping secrets”.

His Father turned his body to face Adrien, and as he moved into the light, Adrien was horrified. Gabriel’s entire face, save his mouth, was covered in a silver face mask. Hawkmoth’s mask. Adrien gasped in shock. “YOU!” he screamed, as he felt Plagg jolt in his pocket, ready for action.

But Adrien stood still in shock. His Father was Hawkmoth. His Father was the one who had been terrorising Paris, traumatizing thousands for the last four years and who had hurt _Ladybug,_ many times. Who had hurt him, and his friends. Adrien couldn't believe it, but it was undeniable.

“WHY?” was the only thing he could say.

Gabriel- Hawkmoth- was unfazed, almost disappointed by the question.

“You see, Adrien, when you combine the Ladybug and Chat Noir miraculouses, you gain the ability to have one wish granted, no matter what it might be”

Adrien knew this, but he couldn't fathom what one thing could be worth the suffering of so many, how you could keep a city on edge for years and years, and prey on so many vulnerable people, all to further your own selfish agenda.

“And my wish, would be to bring her back”

Gabriel didn't have to say her name for Adrien to know who he was talking about. His Mother, Emile Agreste. His Father never referred to her by name. Adrien had to admit, that even he would do anything to see his Mother again, to hear her laugh, to see her smile, to know that he was loved and to feel warm her comforting arms.

“You must understand, I know you also miss her dearly” Gabriel had the smallest hint of their shared grief in his voice.

“I do, Father” Said Adrien, because it was true.

To think that all of this time spent fighting a supervillain, almost four years, and it turned out in the end that they just wanted to bring back a loved one.

“So, you shall now be helping me on my quest?” inquired Gabriel.

“Yes, Father” How could he say no? It was his Father, asking him to bring back the thing he wanted the most in the world. Besides, he couldn't even begin to think about what his Father might do in retaliation in he refused.

“So, you will give me your Miraculous?”

A large pause followed Hawkmoth’s demand. Adrien was unsure. But he knew that his Father would find a way to remove the Miraculous from him anyway, now that he knew that Chat Noir lived under his roof.

“Yes, Father”

Adrien reached over to his ring, beginning the motion to remove it before Gabriel stopped him.

“Not yet, I want you to get me the Ladybug Miraculous first”

Adrien set his hands down. Of course, he needed both the Miraculous of creation and the Miraculous of destruction to gain his wish.

“How?” Adrien asked. Did he want Adrien to _fight_ Ladybug? The thought of harming the woman he loved sent shivers down his spine.

“I have been thinking about this for a while. Watching the two of you fight together, it is undeniable that Ladybug completely trusts you. You should take advantage of that. Wait for a moment when she is vulnerable, and simply slip the earrings off of her”

Adrien felt horrified. Taking Ladybug’s Miraculous would be a massive betrayal. She would never forgive him.

“I can't do that!”

His Father signed loudly. Angrily he said “Don't you understand? Once you bring me her Miraculous, there will be no need for a Ladybug. Without me, without my Akuma, Paris doesn't need superheroes.” He looked back towards the circular window. “Bring me Ladybug’s Miraculous, and you will have defeated Hawkmoth and ended his so-called ‘reign of terror’ in the most peaceful way possible”

 _He has a point_ , thought Adrien. Although he had enjoyed most of the last four years superheroing, and he had especially enjoyed his time with Ladybug, he knew in his heart that it was for the best that the Akuma attacks stopped. It wasn't good for a city to live in constant fear of attack, or of being controlled by a puppeteer and waking up only knowing that you _hurt people._ And he couldn't say no to his Father. And he couldn't say no to his Mother.

“I understand, Father”

“Good, go back to sleep now”

 _“_ Yes Father” 

  * ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●



The next morning, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was rushing towards her school, her hair uncombed and her stomach empty, since she'd had to skip breakfast in order to get to school on time.

“I can't be late again, Tikki, or I'll be grounded” She explained through exasperated breaths to her Kwami, who was clearly uncomfortable with the violet jolting of the bag she laid in, as Marinette ran towards her science classroom.

She arrived to class just as her name was being called in the register, but her teacher was unamused. Marinette sat down at her place, next to Alya, and noticed Adrien sitting behind her.

Marinette had gotten over the worst of her crush on the teenage model since she was 14. She could now hold conversations with the boy, and the two of them were close friends. She has come to accept, against Alya’s belief in the contrary, that Adrien Agreste would never be interested in her. Maybe he was gay, or just oblivious. Besides, Marinette wasn't sure she had time for a relationship, with her schoolwork, part time job and then being Ladybug, on top of everything else.

Still, that didn't stop her from getting butterflies in her stomach every time she saw Adrien.

He looked awful today. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was messier than Marinette’s.

“Rough night?” asked Marinette.

“Oh, yeah. Trouble sleeping” replied Adrien, clearly distracted.

The school day continued as normal, and luckily for Marinette, there wasn't even an Akuma attack, so she could catch up on some work she had missed.

Marinette decided to push her good luck and invite Nino, Alya and Adrien over to her house after school. The Dupain-Cheng residence had recently become the group's favourite hangout spot, due to the fact that it was much closer than Nino’s place, quieter than Alya’s, and unlike Adrien’s mansion, they were actually allowed there.

Also, free pastries.

The four of them walked to the Bakery, Alya and Nino were holding hands in front, leaving Marinette and Adrien together behind them. Marinette decided to ask Adrien what was wrong, since his weird mood hadn't gone away over the course of the day.

“I'm ok. It's just a problem with my Father” Adrien replied to her concerns.

“What kind of problem?” Asked Marinette. She knew Adrien enough to know that his relationship with his Father was strained, at it's best.

“He wants me to do something I don't really want to” Adrien admitted. “Something that could hurt someone close to me”

“You don't have to do everything your father says” Marinette tried to reason.

Adrien shook his head “I have to”

Marinette stopped walking and turned Adrien to face her and looked the boy in his eyes.

“Adrien, you're almost an adult. He can't treat you that way. You need to stand up to him!” she pleaded.

Adrien seemed more confident. “You're right. He can't make me do anything I don't want to. I'm stronger and more powerful than him.” He exclaimed.

“Huh?” said Marinette. _More powerful?_ Adrien was acting weird today.

“Come on guys!” Cried Alya, now a block away from the two of them.

They continued walking, as Adrien told Marinette “I'm going to confront him, give him a piece of my mind” He clenched his fist. “Thanks Marinette”

“You're welcome.” She said. “Unless the thing he's trying to get you to do is get a haircut.” She teased, running her hand through Adrien’s long blonde hair, before shaking it. “Hey!” he protested, but Marinette just giggled.

A little flirting didn't do any harm. It wasn't like he noticed anyway.

  * ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●



Adrien felt a new sense of confidence that evening. Marinette was so cool, and she gave great advice. Better than Plagg anyway, who just told Adrien to go to Master Fu when Adrien left Hawkmoth’s lair the night before.

“And betray my Father?” Adrien had said to his Kwami.

“We could tell Ladybug. Now we know Hawkmoth’s identity, it will be easy to take him down” his Kwami replied.

“I'm not fighting my Father” Adrien said assuredly.

“Fine. It's your funeral.” Said Plagg before yawning and retreating into Adrien’s pyjama pocket, too tired to argue.

Now Adrien was sure that he could convince his Father abandon his quest for Ladybug’s Miraculous. After all, Adrien was now in school despite his Father’s wishes. He’d managed to get through to him then, he could do now. He walked into his Father’s office with new-found self-assurance. He found his Father seeing at his desk, reviewing papers. He raised his head to look at his son.

“Do you have it?” Asked Gabriel.

“What? Oh, no, I haven't seen her today. I usually only see her when we're fighting Akumas.”

Gabriel signed “Then what do you want?”

Adrien straightened his back. This was harder than he had thought. “I want to tell you........”

“Spit it out Adrien” hissed Gabriel.

“I'm not going to be a part of this!” Adrien shouted.

Gabriel closed his eyes in frustration, a movement that Adrien was all to familiar with.

“Do you not want your Mother back, Adrien?” he asked his son.

“Of course, I do, but I can't betray my partner!”

“It wouldn't be difficult, just remove the earrings while she’s sleeping!” said Gabriel, his voice and intensity rising, but he still remained cool and collected.

“What?” said Adrien, confused. Then he understood.

“We're...we're not like that..........”

Gabriel’s eyebrows rose with a hint of surprise.

 “Well.......make it that way” he said, slowly.

“Seduce her!?” Adrien couldn't believe what his Father was suggesting.

“You are a model, Adrien, this should be easy for you”

Adrien was speechless for a moment, before remembering why he had entered his Father's office in the first place.

“I told you, I'm not going along with this!”

Gabriel rose up from his seat, banging his fists on his desk.

“How can you be so idiotic! You'd rather spend your time chasing after a girl than save Paris and bring back your Mother!”

“Father.... I.......” Adrien tired to plead his case quietly, but he couldn't find the words.

Gabriel was now shouting “You will do as I say, otherwise I will make sure you never see Ladybug, or the rest of your friends again!”

Then Gabriel relaxed, took a deep breath, and sat back down.

“Is that clear?

“Yes, Father”


	2. Threads of Yarn

Adrien felt like the world was in his shoulders. His Father had asked him to seduce Ladybug. Could he manage it? Ans would it make his Father proud? 

He had been flirting with the woman for the better half of four years and she had not in any way responded to his advances. But that might be because they didn't spend a lot of time together outside of fighting Akumas. Even Adrien had to admit, despite their tight partnership, the two of them didn't know very much about each other. He didn't even know her real name. But at the same time, they knew each other intimately in a way that no other person could- they were constantly defending the other and sacrificing themselves for each other and they understood each other and trusted each other deeply: they were partners. And Adrien loved Ladybug, of that much he was certain. He had never felt the way he felt for Ladybug for anyone before. She was a constant in his thoughts. He was certain that he would put down his life for her if the time came.........

“Hey dude, are you ok? You seem to be in dreamland” said Nino, interrupting Adrien’s thoughts.

“I'm good” replied Adrien, as cheerfully as he could.

The two boys, along with Alya and Marinette, were studying quietly in the library. 

“Is everything ok? I mean with your Father?” asked Marinette with concern.

She's always so considerate, thought Adrien. It was comforting to have someone who cared so much about your well-being. 

“Yeah. We....came to an agreement” Adrien nervously scratched his head. He wished he could explain to Marinette his exact predicament, but he’d made a promise to keep both his and his Father's identity a secret. 

“Guys!!!” Alya cried excitedly. She held up her phone. “There's an Akuma attack, right now, just outside the school!”

“I need to go to the um toilet” said Marinette quickly. She then rushed off out of the library, her small handbag swinging after her.

An Akuma attack? Thought Adrien. He supposed his Father was still trying to gain the Miraculouses his own way. Maybe if Adrien didn't intervene, then Hawkmoth could obtain the Ladybug Miraculous instead of him.......

“Quick, let's head out. I want to record this for the Ladyblog” Alya said as she stood up.

Adrien followed Nino and Alya outside, and for the first time in his life, rather than fight alongside Ladybug, he watched her from afar.  
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●  
Where is Chat Noir? Thought Ladybug as she dodged another attack from the Akuma in the street outside of her high school.

This Akuma called themselves the Unraveller. Apparently, a bit of a knitting fanatic, the akumatised old lady enjoyed unravelling any sort of material using her long knitting needles. his included the Eiffel Tower, whose steel framework had been turned into a massive ball of metal strands by the Unraveller. She seemed to be collecting ‘wool’ to knit a jumper, muttering something about an ‘ungrateful grandson’. She carried the balls of reclaimed materials around her, as strands of loose threads floated like tendrils on her body.

Right now, the Akumatised victim was focusing on Ladybug, throwing balls of wool, steel, and anything else the Unraveller could get a hold on, trying to demobilise the superheroine. But Ladybug was quick. She had already located the Akuma, it was in a flower button in the old woman’s cardigan. Ladybug had managed to evade the Akuma’s attacks for the last 20 minutes.

All she needed was a distraction. Usually Chat Noir would be perfect, but he was nowhere to be found. All she could see out of the corner of her eye was Alya, recording the entire ordeal, accompanied by Nino and a very worried-looking Adrien. 

Suddenly, a ball of electric wire hit Ladybug like a wrecking ball, sending the teenager to the floor. Ladybug tried to move but was caught in the mess of wires, unable to escape quickly. She heard a distant cry of “NO!” before the Unraveller approached.

“Such pretty little earrings” said the old lady, slowly walking over to reach and grab Ladybug’s Miraculous as Ladybug struggled to free herself. The wire caught on her suit, clinging to her. She needed Chat. Where the hell was he? 

The Akuma approached an increasing her pace as she stared at Ladybug’s Miraculous with hungry eyes.

“Chat Noir!” Ladybug cried out desperately. Where was he? She continued to tug at the strands that were stuck to her body as if with glue, but they wouldn't give in. The Unraveller’s hand grew dangerously close to her dark hair, reaching for her right earing, as was unable to act. She could feel the Unraveller’s fingers gazing her skin. 

Then in-between the two women, a masked blonde suddenly appeared. 

“Chat!” Ladybug gasped, relived.  
“How about we pull the wool over our eyes?” said the superhero, knocking the Akumatised victim back several feet before helping Ladybug out of her constraints.

“Sorry for the late entrance, My Lady” he said, kissing Ladybug’s hand. “Hope I didn't leave you with pins and needles” 

“Where were you?” Ladybug demanded.

“Well I could spin you a whole yarn about my journey.......”

“Leave it, the Akuma’s in her button” Said Ladybug, secretly smiling as Chat Noir jumped into action. It was hard to stay mad at that cat.

“Lucky Charm” Ladybug called out. The pokadotted object that came to her aid was a massive sewing needle, almost as tall as Ladybug.

“You couldn't lose that in a haystack.” Chat Noir commented, as he continued to pull the Akuma’s attacks towards him and away from Ladybug. 

“Pass me some thread, Chat Noir!” Ladybug called out, as she suddenly understood what she needed to do. 

Chat Noir eyebrows tensed in confusion for a second, before he looked back at the Unraveller, and the loose ends of yarn-like strands that surrounded her and understood. He grabbed one of the strands and jumped back to Ladybug with it in his hand, passing the end into her hand. Ladybug expertly thread the needle and then threw it like a Javelin towards the Unraveller. The needle flew through the many threads to the old woman’s side. Using his pole to jump into the air, Chat Noir caught the needle mid-air, and threw it back to Ladybug. 

The pair repeated this action a few more times until the Unraveller could no longer move, as the threads bonded her, and she fell to the ground, allowing Ladybug to grab her button and then smash it. She purified the escaped Akuma butterfly, and then Ladybug threw up her sewing needle in the air, casting ‘Miraculous Ladybug’, which restored the Eiffel Tower, and left a confused old lady in the place of the Unraveller. 

“Pound it!” the superhero duo called out as they pumped fists to celebrate their victory. 

Ladybug moved to leave the scene, knowing that her transformation was not going to last.

“Ladybug, Wait up!” Chat Noir cried out. Ladybug turned to face him.

“I was wondering if you know......we could hang out, maybe, this evening?” He asked earnestly. He ran his hand through his long blonde hair. “Something casual, just you and me, maybe have some pizza or something?”

Ladybug pondered over Chat Noir’s proposal. She would be working at her parents’ bakery until the late evening. Suddenly her earrings beeped, warning her.

“How about 7 o'clock? On the roof of the Palais de Justice?” she said.

“Sounds good to me” Chat Noir responded with a wink before running over to comfort the very confused and disoriented old lady who was once the Unraveller.

Ladybug went to finding a hiding spot to detransform. She smiled to herself. She couldn't think of a better partner than Chat Noir.  
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●  
He couldn't do it. Adrien had tried to stand aside and let the Akuma do its job, but he couldn't stand to see his Lady be hurt. Just as the ball of mangled wire struck Ladybug, he had screamed “NO!”, found a place to rapidly transform, then leapt over to save his Lady love. 

He couldn't just stand by, it was against his nature. Adrien wondered what his Father would think about what has happened that day. Adrien could argue that Ladybug’s trust was their greatest asset, and not helping her would make them lose it.

But he didn't have to worry about his Father just yet. He had a date with Ladybug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short, actiony chapter. A chapter with plenty of Ladynoir coming on Monday :) 
> 
> -Billi


	3. La Vie En Rose

Marinette swept the final piece of dust away into the bin as she finished cleaning up in her parent's bakery. She checked the clock. She had a bit of time left before she was due to meet up with Chat Noir. 

Marinette walked up to her apartment to see her Mother cooking. 

“Smells good, Maman” 

“I'm making hachis parmentier” Sabine told her cheerfully.

Her Father was working on the kitchen island, looking over papers, massaging his temple in frustration.

“Everything ok, Papa?” 

Tom smiled up his daughter. “I'm having trouble with the Bourgeois order” he explained. Marinette nodded with sympathy. Chloe Bourgeois was soon celebrating her 18th Birthday and ordered from their bakery not only an enormous cake, but a collection of pâtisseries that would make Marie Antoinette jealous. 

“Actually, is it ok if I have dinner with a friend tonight?” she asked her Mother. 

“Of course! Just make sure you're not home too late” 

“Thanks, Maman” Marinette said, giving her Mother a kiss on the cheek before going upstairs to freshen up.  
-  
Ladybug wasn't sure what to expect when she met with Chat Noir under the clear night sky. The boy had laid out some candles emitting a gentle light along the rooftop. A small radio was playing some gentle oldies music. Chat Noir lay next to a large pizza box, greeting Ladybug with a smile. Ladybug sat down next to him as he opened the box to reveal a pizza with half the toppings pineapple and the other half just cheese.

“Chat Noir, how did you know that Hawaiian pizza is my favourite?” Ladybug exclaimed, grabbing a piece from the pineapple side and devouring happily. 

“You may have mentioned it, last summer. Remember the Pizza Princess?” 

“Oh yeah” said Ladybug, remembering the Akuma. “Wait, wasn't the Akuma a .......”

“A pizza roller?” interrupted Chat Noir.

“Yeah, that was it” said Ladybug, as she continued to eat her food, looking over the light-filled city, with the Eiffel Tower shining brightly in the distance. She signed contentedly. She loved this city. 

“How are things going? You know, like school?” asked Chat Noir.

“I've got exams coming up soon. And on top of that I'm working for my parents. Everything's good.” Responded Ladybug. And it was true. 

“No Boyfriend?” Chat Noir asked cheekily. 

“Haven't the time” replied Ladybug, stuffing her face with another slice of pizza. 

“What about you, Chat Noir, you got a sweetheart?”

“I only have eyes for you, my Lady” 

Of course, thought Ladybug. 

The two teenagers continued to eat and chat as they looked across at the city that protected.

They talked more about their personal lives, taking care to leave out any identifying elements. Since they were the same age, and taking similar exams, that could bond over that, discussing the worst parts of the curriculum, and their stress over university. They also spoke about their time as superheroes, their conversation turning to reminisce about the many strange and bizarre foes they had come across since they had first adopted their personas almost four years ago. Ladybug felt so comfortable with her partner, it was like talking to someone you've known forever. 

As they finished their meal, the radio began to play the intro to Edith Piaf’s La Vie en Rose. 

“I love this song!” Ladybug exclaimed. 

Chat Noir stood up and extended his hand towards Ladybug. “Care for a dance?”

She blushed “I'm a terrible dancer” 

“Come on” Said Chat Noir, flashing his large green eyes at Ladybug, and she gave in, letting him grab her hand and lift her up into an embrace. The pair began to slow dance, Chat Noir leading, his emerald eyes staring into Ladybug’s. The couple swayed to the song and Chat Noir let Ladybug leave the hold to twirl before returning to him. It was such a calm moment, Ladybug felt her body relax and melt into the music, and into Chat Noir’s warm embrace.

Quand il me prend dans ses bras  
Il me parle tout bas  
Je vois la vie en rose

Il me dit des mots d'amour  
Des mots de tous les jours  
Et ça me fait quelque chose

Ladybug rested her head on Chat’s chest, a peaceful feeling of safety rushed across her in the superhero’s arms as the two of them swayed gently from side to side. 

Then the song stopped, letting a chatty radio announcer take over. Chat Noir broke the hold, looking down at Ladybug.

“Ladybug, I've been thinking about Hawkmoth”

Ladybug moved away from him. This was getting serious. ‘Was this why he had asked her here?’ 

“What about him?” she said, a little annoyed.

“What does he want?”

Ladybug was surprised “We wants our Miraculouses, of course!” 

“I mean for his wish. What do you think he wants to wish for?” 

“It doesn't matter!” Ladybug exclaimed. “He’s a monster!”

“How do you know that? Have you met him?” said Chat Noir, defensively. He paused. “Hear me out, Ladybug” he pleaded. 

“Ok”

"What if Hawkmoth wanted our Miraculouses to do good?"

Ladybug furrowed her brow “Like what?”

“Maybe he wants to bring back someone he loves, or, I don't know, world peace” 

Ladybug couldn't believe what she was hearing. 

“If he wanted to do something good with our Miraculouses, he wouldn't be attacking innocent people!”

“If we gave him our Miraculouses, then he'd leave Paris alone”

“You can't cooperate with some like him! He's evil!” Ladybug raised her voice. 

“He’s not evil!” 

Ladybug was in shock “Are you taking his side?!” she was on the cusp of shouting.

Chat Noir paused. “So, you would never give Hawkmoth your Miraculous?” he asked.

“Never.” Ladybug said, her tone assured and certain.

“Very well” replied Chat Noir as he let the words stew between them. Eventually Ladybug decided to leave, flying away in her yoyo, leaving a dejected Chat Noir alone.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●  
Adrien had screwed up, he knew it. It had all been going so well, with Ladybug is his arms, dancing under the lights of Paris. That moment still felt like a dream. But then he'd had to ruin it and be an ass, trying to convince Ladybug to agree to help the one person he was pretty sure she hated. 

He just wanted to end this all in the most peaceful way, without hurting Ladybug. But Adrien was now sure that that wasn't an option.  
He climbed back into his room through a window, still as Chat Noir, then detransformed. He turned to meet his Father, waiting patiently on his desk chair.

“Do you have them?” he asked his son.

Adrien suppressed a sign. ‘Was he going to ask this every time he saw him?’ he thought. 

“No, Father”

Gabriel stood back up and walked out of the room. He stopped at Adrien’s doorway, his back facing him. 

“You'd better get me Ladybug’s Miraculous before the end of the month, otherwise your partner will have to work alone, and then I cannot guarantee her safety.”

He then walked out, closing the door behind him and leaving Adrien in darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's a cliche, but I love me some Edith Piaf :)  
> Next Chapter coming soon.  
> -Billi


	4. Her Good Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains some description of injury: blood and stuff.
> 
>  
> 
> -Billi-

It was all decided for him. After his Father’s threat on Ladybug the night before, and his failure to convince Ladybug give away her Miraculous, Adrien would have to find a way to get her asleep next to him, since he doubted his chances in a full-on fight with the superheroine. And he had considered some methods to get her unconscious, but none of them were particularly appealing; drugging Ladybug, coming from behind her with Chloroform, knocking her out. He decided that seduction would be the next option to try, before anything that involved physically hurting Ladybug. Besides, this might be the perfect, or only time, for him to admit his feelings and get the relationship, even briefly, he’d always dreamed of. 

“Help me Plagg” he pleaded to his Kwami the next morning, which luckily was a Saturday, so he had plenty of time to plan his next move. 

“I'm not going along with this, you're on your own kid.” Replied the Kwami, focused instead on watching the TV as Adrien was worrying.

“How do I get her to like me?” Adrien didn't know why he was asking, he was sure he asked the question a thousand times to Plagg before and the little cat was never helpful. 

“Why are you asking me? Anyway, isn’t Ladybug mad at you?” 

Adrien had forgotten about that. Not only did he need to seduce Ladybug, he had to first worry about getting back on her good side after the last night’s argument. 

Adrien had no idea what to do. Despite what many celebrity magazines espoused, Adrien was no Casanova. He had never had a girlfriend, since he was waiting for Ladybug. Adrien thought back to the last night, on the roof. The slow dancing had been kind of corny, it was more of a move he’d pull as Adrien than Chat Noir. Chat Noir was the jokey flirtatious rascal in him, but his years of flirting hadn't had half the effect on Ladybug that that one dance had.

“That's it!” Adrien cried out.

"What?" Plagg groaned.

“All these years I've been Chat Noir, and Ladybug hasn't responded. What if I just try being more like Adrien than Chat Noir?”

“You mean more of a doormat” said Plagg. 

Adrien ignored the jab. He was confident in his idea. Show Ladybug his more sensitive side. Girls like sensitive guys, right? 

“Breaking News” declared Nadja Chamack suddenly from the TV. “An Akuma has been spotted at the Museum of Modern Art. The Akuma calls themselves Piscator and seems intent on finding a pearl in the Seine River.........” 

“Plagg, Claws Out!” 

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Ladybug ran over to where the Akuma was prowling, in the area outside the Modern Art Museum, just by the Seine, with the Eiffel Tower on the other side of the river. The Akumatised victim sported a large fisherman’s hat, a fishing net in his right hand and a massive fishing pole in his left. It would be funny, if the man wasn't turning passers-by into fish before flinging them into the Seine with his pole, ordering them to find his ‘pearl’.

Where does Hawkmoth find these people? she thought.

Ladybug focused, hidden behind a building, on locating the Akumatised object. She would bet money that it was Piscator’s fish bait, which was tied to a rope that ran around his waist. 

“What’s with this guy? Fish out of water much?” came from behind her. Ladybug didn't reply. She was still mad at Chat.

“Am I in hot water, My Lady?” 

Ladybug turned to look Chat Noir in the eye. “We have other things to worry about” she indicated the magical fisherman terrorising Paris. 

Chat Noir nodded “What's the plan? I hope it's water-proof, kitties don't take kindly to water.” 

“Let's grab his bait, that's where the Akuma is”

Chat Noir nodded in response as he used his baton to leap onto a nearby rooftop, while Ladybug ran on foot.

The masked blonde appeared in the front of Piscator, waving his arms in an effort to distract the Akuma. 

“Over here, fish breath!” he taunted. 

Piscator looked across to the superhero for a minute, as the symbol of the butterfly appeared across his face. The Akuma then walked away from Chat Noir, ignoring the boy. Chat Noir called out, screamed, trying anything to grab Piscator’s attention, failing dramatically. 

Chat Noir looked back to Ladybug, who was behind the Akuma, shrugging his shoulders. 

Ladybug decided to move out and join Chat Noir, as the Akuma was walking away from him. 

“Why is he ignoring you!?”

“I don't know, maybe he's a pacifisht?"

Ladybug groaned. Even for Chat Noir, that was painful. 

“I'll distract him, you take his bait” she ordered.

“Got it” said Chat, nodding before propelling himself into the sky using his staff. 

Ladybug moved into the Akuma’s line of sight.

“Hey, over here!” she called out. 

“Ladybug, give me your Miraculous!!!” Piscator cried. Ladybug felt weirdly relived to be noticed, after the bizarreness of Chat Noir being ignored. 

The Akuma began to wave his fishing pole around, as if he was hooking his line in order to catch a fish. He constantly threw his line in the direction of Ladybug, who managed to escape the attacks by summersaulting out of the way. 

Chat Noir stood to the sidelines, apparently useless if he wasn’t a massive distraction to those around him.

“Chat!” Ladybug shouted to compel him into action. 

As she was looking towards him, the hook of the fishing line came dangerously close to her. Before she could move, she felt Chat Noir’s hand pressing against her chest, pushing her away. The sharp hook landed on her partner’s cheek, scraping his skin as blood jutted out as the hook speeded back to the Akuma. Chat Noir had a line of crimson running from the side of his nose to his ear.

Ladybug grabbed the boy’s hand and led him away from the action, dodging the Akuma’s attacks as she went. Once they were out of the Piscator’s range, she inspected the injury.

“Are you hurt?” she asked worryingly, running her fingers just below the scar. She gasped as she looked closer. Blood continued to pour out at an alarming rate, and the muscle tissue was exposed. 

“It’s ok, you’ll fix everything” Chat Noir reassured her.

“Are you sure? I can get you something, maybe we should get to a hospital” Ladybug was panicking slightly.

“You’ll heal me” Chat Noir took her hand and looked at her with his emerald eyes. “I’ll be fine” he reassured.

Ladybug stood for a few seconds, debating her options, could she drag this stubborn cat to a hospital while the Piscator continued his reign of terror?

“Go.” Chat Noir commanded. “I’ll be ok”

Ladybug ran back to the courtyard.

Abruptly and without warning, a large fish net, weighted on its sides, flew over from the Piscator, catching Ladybug and pulling her to the ground, incapacitated. 

“Chat Noir!” she called out on instinct. The superhero ran next to her, but stood still, as if lost in thought, one hand covering his cheek.

“Cataclysm?” she said.

Piscator was approaching Ladybug, ready to appraise his catch. Chat Noir was as still as a statue.

“Chat, cataclysm, please” she pleaded. 

The boy didn't move, but Piscator did. The Akuma was dangerously close to Ladybug, his hands just inches from her ears. 

“Cataclysm!” Chat Noir shouted, using his superpower to destroy the net just as Piscator was reaching out for Ladybug. 

“Are you ok?” she asked as the pair of them ran away from the Akuma, finding shelter in a nearby alleyway. “It took you a while to react there”

“I'm sorry, Ladybug” Chat Noir was looking at his feet. His ring beeped out a loud warning. He looked up at Ladybug. “Can we meet at the Eiffel Tower after this? I'd like to talk” 

“Ok”

Chat Noir ran off as his Miraculous beeped again.

Ladybug used her yoyo to climb up to the roof of the Palais de Tokyo. She looked down at the roaming Akuma, who was continuing his hunt for slaves to find his treasure.

“Lucky Charm!” she called out, throwing her yoyo in the air. A harpoon gun landed in her arms. She scoped the horizon, formulating a plan. Piscator walked directly below her, oblivious to her presence. 

She shot the harpoon to hook onto a nearby statue perturbing from a building façade. Holding on to the end of the rope attached to the harpoon, she slid down until she was standing, facing the Akuma. Piscator drew his arms up to Ladybug’s head, but before he could take his prize the statue’s head hit him in his forehead, sounding out a large ‘THAWK’ as Piscator fell to the ground, dizzy and bewildered. Ladybug had pulled on the chord to detach the stone head from its body. Ladybug took advantage of the man's state of distress to snatch his bait and break it in her hands. 

Ladybug performed the rituals to purify the Akuma and restore Paris to normal. As she moved to comfort the victim, a middle-aged man, her earrings beeped and reminded her of her rendezvous with Chat Noir. 

-

Chat Noir was waiting for her on a ledge of the iconic tower, balancing in the iron framework with expert grace. Ladybug climbed over to be at his side. His cheek had healed up completely.

“Great job, My Lady” he shot Ladybug a smile, and it made her want to forget the whole argument from the other night. Instead, she waited for Chat Noir to talk.

He took a deep breath “I’m sorry for what I said last night, you're right.” He looked away from Ladybug and towards the horizon. “I just......want this to end, you know” he paused “it's been four years, and I would like to defeat Hawkmoth peacefully”

Ladybug nodded “I get it”. Although she disagreed, she could understand wanting to find a non-violent solution to their conflict with Hawkmoth.

She heard a flash of a camera together with a crowd of voices exclaiming. She looked down to see that a group of tourists enjoying the Tower had noticed the famous superheroes and were pointing and snapping photos of the pair loudly.

Ladybug grabbed Chat Noir’s arm. “Let’s go somewhere private” she said as she pulled the boy with her towards the other side of the Seine, where alleyways are more frequently found.

Once the two of them had settled into a hidden spot, Ladybug looked her partner in the eyes and asked with worried sincerity “Is everything ok, Chat?”

Chat Noir didn't respond.

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” Ladybug told him as she pleaded with her eyes.

After a pause, Chat Noir responded. “It's my Father. He's....” another pause rang out between his lips. “We're not getting along.”

Ladybug signed with relief. She was always getting into disputes with her parents, but they were often short lived. She could understand why Chat was stressed and was glad it wasn't anything dire troubling him.

“That happens with everyone! We are teenagers, after all!” Ladybug said before placing her hand on Chat Noir’s shoulder and telling him comfortingly “It will be ok”.

“I hope so” 

Ladybug suddenly remembered her responsibilities, so she said goodbye and spirted away from him. She hoped her parents hadn't noticed her long absence. 

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Adrien almost told her. The words ‘My Father is Hawkmoth’ were trying desperately to escape his lips, and he almost freed them as his Lady looked upon him, her face painted with concern. It took every ounce of self-control in him to not admit his secret, and he managed to compromise with his conscience by blaming his behaviour on family drama; although that much was technically true. He wasn't sure he could actually lie to Ladybug directly. 

He had already gone against his father's wishes once that day. When Ladybug was caught in the Akuma’s net, he felt a voice tell him ‘Agreste, leave her- let Hawkmoth get his wish’ as he froze in front of her. 

But the way Ladybug said ‘Please’ made him give in. 

At least he was now on her good side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why do ML fics always have LB and CN going on patrols? They never do that in the show.  
> Anyway, I said this chapter was coming soon :) The next one should be even sooner.  
> Also any comments are welcomed :)
> 
> -Billi-


	5. Doughzilla

It was Chloe’s birthday. Marinette was helping her Father prepare for the celebration, unloading the cakes and delicacies unto a table in Mr Bourgeois’ hotel a few hours before the party began, with the help of Alya, whose Mother was also catering the whole affair. 

The cake prepared by her Father was his chef-d’oeuvre. He had sent the last day slaving away in the kitchen, perfecting his design of a 10-tiered pastel gateau with spiral and flower motifs adorning its fringe, lovingly engraved in frosting by Tom. It was an amazing sight, and the pièce de résistance was the marzipan figure resting in the top of the cake. It was a miniature version of Chloe, dressed in her signature outfit, even including the sunglasses that were perpetually attached to the girl’s head. 

Tom was supervising the transportation of the cake into the Hotel kitchen. “Careful!” he would call out if the ginormous cake even grazed the edge of a doorway, stressfully tugging his frosting piping tool in his hands as the helpers managed to get the cake into the kitchen.

Chloe walked into the room, wearing a pink bathrobe, her face covered in a green paste, followed by Sabrina. “I'm here!” she announced to the room, and Marinette groaned under her breath.

“Chill, girl, at least we're actually invited to her party” Alya murmured.

Marinette was about to reply but was interrupted by a chimp-like scream from the kitchen.

Instinctually, Marinette ran towards the sound. 

“WHAT IS THIS??” Chloe screeched. 

“Your birthday cake, my dear” explained Mayor Bourgeois.

“It's HIDEOUS! I can't have such an ugly cake at my party! Urgh!” Chloe declared in disgust. 

Marinette felt her temper rise. How could Chloe say that about such a beautiful cake, and in front of her Father, no less? Marinette looked across to Tom just to see his back as he left the room. She turned to concentrate her face onto Chloe, barging into the blonde. 

“How could you say that?!” she demanded to know, her face just inches from Chloe’s. Chloe moved her face to the side away from Marinette, then pushed Marinette away with her hand. 

“It’s not my fault that your Dad's cakes are crappy” she said spitefully. 

“How dare you.......” Marinette started, but was interrupted by Alya tugging on her arm, dragging her away from the kitchen and into the ballroom. 

Before Marinette could convince Alya to let her back into the fray, Marinette's Mother rushed into the room, her breathing short and strained.

“Tom's been Akumatised!” she cried out.

Marinette’s blood went cold. 

She sprinted out the Hotel and into the street, looking for signs of her Father. To her left, she saw the 50-foot tall figure of him slowly traversing the streets of Paris, crushing buildings with his huge arms as he wallowed around in despair. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette spotted Chat Noir hanging on the edge of the Grand Paris, looking towards the towering sight of her Father. 

She called his name and the leather clad superhero leapt down to meet her.

“It's my Dad! He's been Akumatised!” Marinette said, panicked, her voice high-pitched with stress. 

Chat Noir placed his hands on her shoulders, and with his large green eyes locked into Marinette’s, he told her “Don't worry, Marinette, I'll make sure your Father doesn't get hurt” 

Marinette didn't say anything, she just let Chat Noir hold onto her, taking in his reassuring gaze, and the way he was comforting her. Chat Noir then shot her one of his trademark goofy smiles and she felt her heart skip a beat. 

“Ok?” he asked.

“Ok” was all Marinette could muster in response. 

To her disappointment, Chat Noir left her side and used his staff to rise up to the roof of the Hotel.

Marinette found a hiding spot, then cried out “Tikki, Spots On!”

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Chat Noir looked over to skyscraper-sized Doughzilla rampaging through the streets of Paris, blazing a trail of destruction as he progressed towards.... well Chat Noir wasn't sure where he was going.

His polka-dotted partner appeared by his side. “Any idea where his Akuma is?” Ladybug asked. 

“I know that he's a baker. And a pretty good one. Have you tried the Religieuse from the Dupain Boulangerie? He kissed his fingers. “Delicious!”

Ladybug giggled. The light melodic flitter of her voice made Chat Noir’s heart race. 

“Let's get a closer look” she commanded, and pair swung to a roof near to where the King-Kong like Akuma was walking, his footsteps making the ground tremble. He noticed Ladybug and tried to swipe at her as if she was a housefly, but his blows were so slow that Ladybug was easily able to flip out of the way. 

Chat Noir looked into the enormous eyes of the Akumatised Mr Dupain and saw a terrible amount of sadness. Doughzilla returned on his course, his head hung low. 

“Do you know what happened to him?” Chat Noir whispered to Ladybug. 

“Chloe Bourgeois” Ladybug replied, with animosity in her voice.

“Of course,” said Chat Noir. The number of people Chloe Bourgeois had led to being Akumatised must now be in the hundreds. 

“That's it!” Ladybug cried out suddenly. “The Akuma is hidden in his piping bag! He always carries it with him if he needs to make a last-minute adjustment!” 

Chat Noir might have wondered how she could know that, but he didn't have time to properly think over the implications, Ladybug was already racing off. He followed her. He looked at the piping bag in the giant's arms. It was the size of a bus, oozing out frosting into the road, clogging up the cars beneath. 

“Lucky Charm!” A massive black and red spotted ladder flew into Ladybug’s arms. She struggled to balance the incredibly long metal framework as the ladder wobbled around in her arms.

“Hey there!” Chat Noir called out as Ladybug threatened to hit him with the ladder. He caught an end of the ladder and stabilised it. 

He watched as Ladybug scanned her surroundings and admired the sight of the cogs in her brain formulating a plan. He was always amazed and how she could find solutions so quickly, armed with whatever random object her powers had granted her.

Ladybug ran, Chat Noir trailing her, until she was a few blocks in front of the Akuma’s path. She then threw the ladder across to the building on the other side of the street, expanding it to its full potential, where it became a bridge between the two structures. Ladybug ran across it, stopping at its midpoint and Chat Noir followed. Doughzilla had noticed them and was increasing his walking speed to approach the pair. 

“Give me your baton. I'm going to lower you, then swing you so that you can use Cataclysm to destroy Da- the Akuma. Got it?” she commanded.

“Got it” Chat Noir passed her his end of his staff called out “Cataclysm!”, then slid through one of the ladder’s gaps, taking care not to touch anything with his dominant hand as his other hand gripped the end of his staff as Ladybug pressed the button to expand it. Chat Noir dangled from the ladder as Doughzilla rapidly grew closer, his hand reaching out.

“3. 2..1!” Ladybug shouted before she used all of her force to swing Chat Noir in the direction of the Akuma. Chat Noir stretched his arm out, his whole body reaching out until his hand was touching the enormous piping bag and the object disintegrated. Having lost his grip on the staff, Chat Noir fell to the ground (luckily cats always land in their feet), to be joined by Ladybug. She cleansed the Akuma and restored order as quickly as she could- her earrings had already beeped. The duo fist bumped, then Chat Noir walked over to a confused Mr Dupain.

“What happened?” he asked.

“It's ok, Mr Dupain. You were Akumatised but we managed to get everything back to normal” Chat Noir told him. “Do you need anything? Would you like me to take you back to the Grand Paris?” he asked.

“No thank you, young man. You've done enough already” Chat Noir’s ring beeped and he turned to see Ladybug watching him, the same way she did when she was thinking of a plan, with concentrated application. When her Miraculous rang out in turn she was pulled out of her state of hypnosis and quickly exited the scene. 

Chat Noir called out to her “Ladybug! Wait!” but she didn't respond. 

-

Chloe’s party was set to start in less than an hour. Adrien, who had managed to get the whole story of how Marinette’s Father had gotten Akumatised from Alya (he had missed the altercation- he was at fencing practice), was now moving to confront Chloe. He’d already had to convince her to invite Marinette, Alya and Nino, and only after the ultimatum that he wouldn't come to her party if his friends couldn't. And then she disrespected Mr Dupain like that? It was hard to believe Chloe was now an adult.

Adrien noticed Chloe, dressed in a massive yellow ball gown, ranting to some poor server. “Adrikins!” she shrieked when she saw him.

“Chloe, can we talk?” Adrien asked as Chloe shooed the server away with a flick of her wrist. 

“I think what you did today to Mr Dupain was really horrible, Chloe”

“So, what? I didn't like his cake, and I told him. That's it.” 

“Chloe” Adrien signed. “You need to be more considerate of people's feelings. Tell me, what exactly was wrong with the cake?”

“The little Chloe on top! Her shoes are the wrong colour! So, you really think I'd ever wear purple shoes?!”

Adrien rubbed his temple in frustration. “Why don't you tell Mr Dupain that? That way he can change it and your Father doesn't have to worry about finding you a new cake.”

“Ok” Chloe replied. The pair of them moved towards the kitchen as Adrien told her “And I think you should apologise to Mr Dupain, he spent a lot on time on your cake”

“Urgh, fine!”

-

After Chloe managed to say sorry to Tom Dupain, her party was able to go ahead without a hitch. Marinette arrived wearing a beautiful sleeveless red dress. Adrien complemented her on it, and when she replied that she had designed and sewn it, he almost suggested that she apply for a job with his Father, before remembering that he was a supervillain, and that he’d rather keep Marinette out of that dangerous part of his life.

The moment came for Chloe to blow out her birthday candles and the girl, who had clearly already had too much Champagne, clumsily climbed up to the top of the gâteau and blew the candles away to massive applause. As the guests were lining up to receive their share of the cake, Adrien noticed Marinette, all alone, standing on one of the hotel’s balconies. Then he had an idea.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Marinette stared up at the moonlit sky, a glass of Champagne in her hand, the commotion of the party a distant hum behind her. She thought back to the day’s events. How had she never noticed the kindness with which Chat Noir approached the citizens he protected? She considered the way he assured her as Marinette that her Father would be ok, and how he comforted her Father even though his transformation would soon disintegrate. 

Chat Noir was kind, and she had never been able to look through his cocky demeanour to see it. 

Then, as if he could hear her thoughts, the feline boy appeared at her side, sitting on the balcony railing, flashing her a smile.

“Hey there, Princess. How's your Dad doing?”

'He came to check up on me!' Thought Marinette. 

“He’s much better! Chloe even apologised to him! Everyone’s enjoying his cake inside!” she pondered over inviting Chat Noir inside. She imagined Chloe’s outraged expression as she no longer became the centre of attention when Marinette entered with a superhero at her side.

“I'm glad” said Chat Noir. He pushed off the railing so he could be standing face to face with Marinette.

“You're friends with Ladybug, right?” he asked.

“Yes” 

“Could you pass on a message for me?” 

“Of course,”

“Tell her I’d like to see her tomorrow evening, for dinner” Chat then gave Marinette an address, specifying the top floor balcony as the meeting place.

“Is it a date?” asked Marinette, teasing. This Champagne was starting to work.

“Yes, but you can't tell her that” said Chat Noir with a wink. He climbed back on the railing taking out his baton, preparing to leave. 

“Wait! Don't you want to join the party?” Marinette asked.

“I wouldn't want to ruin your fun”

“Please” she pleaded. “At least have some of my Dad’s cake, as a reward”

Chat stayed on the railing for a moment, thinking. “Why the hell not?” he said.

Marinette smiled as Chat Noir lowered himself back onto the balcony and she re-entered the ballroom and claimed two pieces of cake on porcelain plates. 

Back outside, Chat was sitting on the floor cross-legged, grinning at Marinette as she arrived with the dessert. Marinette sat back with him as they tucked into the cake.

“I would like to thank you for what you did today” she said.

“It’s nothing really, it’s my job” he replied.

“I know, but when a family member gets Akumatised, it’s terrifying.” Marinette said. “This wave of panic washes over you. It’s really horrible” 

Chat Noir nodded in understanding as he ate another bite of cake, moaning with delight.

“This is delicious!” he said in-between mouthfuls. My complements to the chef” he added.

After they finished the cake, he asked her “Do you want to hear a joke?”

“Ok” 

“What did the cake say to the fork?”

“I don’t know, what did the cake say to the fork?”

“You want a piece of me?!” 

Marinette signed but couldn’t suppress a smile at the terrible joke. 

Chat Noir stood up, wiped the crumbs of his suit and told her “I have to get going, I have somewhere to be. You won’t forget to give my message to Ladybug?”

“I won’t, I promise” she answered.

And with that, he was gone, disappeared into the night, leaving Marinette with a warm sensation, like fire, in her stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tom Dupain is a cinnamon roll and just wants to make people happy, he needs to be protected.  
> Next chapter is going to be fun
> 
> -Billi-


	6. Onion Soup

Marinette had no idea why she was so nervous. She was just going I see her partner, the person she saw almost every day, for dinner. Yet she had butterflies circling her stomach as she debated wearing makeup.

“Don't worry Marinette, you'll be fine” said Tikki, sensing Marinette’s jitters. 

“I'm not worried! Why would I be worried? It's just Chat!” 

Tikki shook her head. Marinette signed- at least she didn't have to worry about what to wear.

-

Ladybug swung over to the address Chat Noir gave her as Marinette. It was small terrace, covered in potted plants, and was lit by candlelight from a dining table in the middle of the balcony, with a bottle of wine, glasses, bread and cutlery already placed. Behind the table were large windows, but Marinette was unable to see what was inside them due to the blackout curtains that covered the windows like a wall. 

“Chat?” she called out tentatively. Chat Noir walked out of a door at the edge of the barricade of glass, a plate of hors d’oeuvres in his hands and an apron tied around his waist. 

“Good Evening, My Lady” he smiled, placing his plate down on the table before uncorking the wine. “I hope you like onion soup” he said.

“Chat! I didn't know you could cook!” Ladybug exclaimed.

Chat Noir bowed “I'm afraid I'm perfect at everything, My Lady”  
Ladybug scoffed and sat down at the table. Chat Noir poured her a glass of wine and said “and for dessert, a speciality from the Dupain Boulangerie.”

“So...do you go to Dupain’s often?” Ladybug asked.

“Of course! It's the best bakery in Paris!” Chat Noir replied. 

Ladybug smiled to herself. She wondered if she had ever seen Chat Noir at her parents’ bakery. Whether she had seen his unruly mop of hair, his emerald eyes, and then passed him his change, wishing him a good day as he walked out the door, her none the wiser. 

“Their daughter, Marinette, is pretty cool, right?” said Chat Noir as he set down.

“What? Oh, yeah” Ladybug felt her cheeks getting redder. What was happening to her? 

“She designs and sews her own clothes, you know?” Chat Noir gushed. 

“Oh cool” a wave of jealously swept over Ladybug. What did Marinette have that she didn’t? Then she realised how ridiculous she was being.

She took another sip of wine, then gazed at the bottle. It was very expensive. Come to think of it, the apartment was situated in a very rich area.

“Is this where you live, kitty?”

Chat Noir rubbed the back of his head “I'm just borrowing it from a friend” 

The two of them finished the hors d’oeuvres and Chat Noir disappeared again into the apartment, as Ladybug leaned back, sipping her wine. 

Chat Noir bought out an assiette de charcuterie that he placed between them, and the couple shared the assortment as Ladybug asked “How are things going with your Dad?” 

“My Father is difficult to talk to. He keeps making me do something I really don't want to” 

Ladybug nodded. Reminded of Adrien, she said “I have a friend with a similar problem.” 

“I just...... I can't say no to him” 

Ladybug reached out her hand and held Chat’s, her thumb massaging his palm.

“I know it's hard” she said, looking into his eyes. Chat Noir signed and looked away from her. He finished the bottle and went out to get another.

Ladybug didn't know what to say to him. If she knew more about his problem she could help him, but Chat Noir was never very open about his home life. Maybe she could ask Adrien how he dealt with his Father and pass on his wisdom to Chat Noir. 

Chat Noir returned with a fresh bottle of red wine. He uncorked the bottle, holding it between his legs. Then, as he pulled the cork out of its socket, a fountain of wine splashed all over his hair and face. Ladybug laughed, Chat Noir made an annoyed expression. 

Ladybug stood up, moved towards Chat Noir, napkin in hand. She stood close to the teenager, their breaths embracing, as she rubbed his left cheek with her napkin. Chat Noir placed his hand on her wrist and looked her in the eyes. The two of them stood still, eyes locked, her hand on his cheek, for what felt like an eternity. Ladybug’s heart fluttered, threatening to burst. 

The sudden shrill ringing sound of an egg timer broke the spell and Chat Noir rushed into the kitchen, leaving Ladybug to sit back down at the table and finish their starter. 

Chat Noir’s onion soup was delicious. As was the cheese plate the two of them ravished afterwards. Dessert was Tom’s signature tarte au fraises, which happened to be Ladybug’s favourite of her parents’ products. After they finished the feast, Ladybug sat back, full and satisfied. 

“That was wonderful, Chat” 

Chat Noir smiled with pride. He then sat up, stretched his legs, settling in the edge of the terrace railing, sitting on the floor. With her glass of wine in her hand, Ladybug joined him. She moved close to him, then nestled her head in his chest. Chat put his arm around her shoulders, and the two of them looked across at the building in front of them. It was amazingly quiet, and the street was empty. Ladybug adjusted her posture until she was completely comfortable in Chat’s embrace. She could feel herself dozing off- she’d had too much wine. 

“Ladybug?”

“Yes, Chaton?”

Chat Noir took in a deep breath. “You are the most important person in my life.”

“Oh, Chat...” 

“I mean it. You are everything to me. I love you, Ladybug. So much” 

Ladybug didn't know what to say to him. She was a little drunk, so she just laughed lightly, her head falling back as she lost her balance.

“Hey there!” Chat Noir lifted her back up, then helped her to her feet. “You've had too much to drink” 

“I'm fine”

“Let me take you home”

Ladybug shook her head “We're not allowed to know each other’s i........dentities”. She hiccupped. Ok, maybe she had had too much wine.

“Come on” He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close as he expanded his staff to support the couple as they flew up. The two of them leapt through the city as one, Ladybug giving Chat instructions on where to go. 

Once Ladybug saw the bakery in the distance she told Chat to let her go.

“Are you ok to get home from here?” he asked.

Ladybug nodded. She was sobering up already. 

“See you soon, Buginette” 

And as he leapt away from her, Ladybug realised she was in love with Chat Noir.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Adrien was bad at this. So bad at this. He was supposed to win her over with his cooking, then take her in his arms, and ask her to stay the night. Instead he awkwardly confessed his love for her and then took her home. It didn't even occur to him until he was back at his house that he could have taken advantage of her inebriated state to take her Miraculous. He just wanted to make sure she was safe. He’d also had a bit too wine. He was so bad at this. 

He was avoiding his Father. It wasn't difficult to do, but he knew that soon enough he would have to explain to his Father why he still didn't have the earrings. 

At least the food had been good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I tag this as 'underage drinking'? They're both almost 18 so I don't really count it. Also, most french people start to drink wine way before then. 
> 
> This ended up being one of the shortest chapters, but I enjoyed writing it :)
> 
> -Billi-


	7. Monopoly

When Marinette fell in love, she fell hard. Her years long obsession with Adrien was nothing if not an indication of this. But now all of the wasted energy she had spent in Adrien could now be concentrated towards Chat Noir.

The realisation had swept across her like a wave. She wondered now why she had never opened her heart to Chat Noir. Had she been so blindsided by Adrien Agreste, by his mop of golden hair flowing in front of her in class, by his kind words of encouragement, and looks of kindness to see what she needed was in front of her, offering all she wanted and more from the fashion model she admired. She and Chat were joined, pre-destined, she felt it. Marinette could now understand why Chat called them ‘Soulmates’. It had just taken her a while to realise her feelings, and that he was right. 

And she had been young, so young, so sure that she knew what she wanted. But she was older now, and she wasn’t going to mourn the wasted years. 

After she got home from their date, Marinette spent hours reading through the archives of the Ladyblog, staring longingly at every photo or video of her partner. Then when she reached the photos of their fight against Dark Cupid, she had to stop and call it a night. 

She knew it was bad, but she hoped for an Akuma attack soon so that she could see him again. Maybe a natural disaster, or anything that caused them to be stuck together, preferably in a secluded spot with no one around.......

She needed to get her mind out of the gutter. 

Marinette found herself drawing the masked superhero when her mind should have been on other things, like her philosophy homework, which was currently filled with doodles of a blonde boy with cat ears. Alya, Nino and Adrien were hard at work on their assignments in Marinette’s bedroom, but Marinette’s mind was elsewhere. 

Alya asked Marinette a question about the homework, but she didn't listen, since she was focused on perfecting the golden bell around Chat’s neck. 

“Marinette!” Alya called out in frustration.

“Huh?” she replied.

“Let me look at your answer” said Alya, grabbing the paper from Marinette’s desk before examining it. Alya gasped. “Girl, do you have a crush on Chat Noir?”

Adrien’s head shot up. Marinette felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. She buried her head in her heads.

“It's ok, Marinette, Adrien has a massive crush on Ladybug” said Nino.

Marinette looked to Adrien, who just shrugged and put his hands up as if to say ‘What can you do’.

This was too much for Marinette.

Alya tugged on her arm and brought her outside onto the balcony, out of the earshot of the boys.

“So, do you?” she asked.

Marinette nodded shyly. 

“So, does this mean you're over Adrien? ‘Cus if not I've got a great idea. You know that old Ladybug costume you got from....”

“I'm over him!” interrupted Marinette. It was true. The fact that Adrien liked Ladybug would, even a week ago, be a massive revelation, but she was disinterested. Besides, aside of Adrien admiring her from a far, she had someone who knew her alter-ego, the most honest part of herself, intimately. And loved her, really loved her. He had told her. 

“Seriously?” Alya said in disbelief. “All because of Chat Noir?” 

“Yes” she didn't like lying to Alya if she didn't have to. 

“Got a thing for boys in leather?” Alya teased.

Marinette blushed. 

“Don't worry girl, I'll make sure Nino and Adrien don't tell anyone, otherwise they're dead” she finished the threat with a comforting smile and the two girls want back into the pink bedroom. 

Adrien greeted Marinette with a wide smile, and Marinette could feel her heart beating faster. 

So maybe she still had a tiny, tiny, amount of feelings left for him. She probably wasn't going to get over her childhood crush in a day. 

“I'm fed up with Homework, let's play a game” said Nino. 

“How about Monopoly?” offered Adrien.

So, the group of teenagers played board games for the next few hours, with Marinette’s thoughts frequently turning to a certain cat, especially when she saw Alya and Nino cuddling, Alya’s head resting in her boyfriend’s chest as he threw the die. 

Would Chat Noir and her start dating? Would they go on dates together, superhero masks and all? No, they should probably reveal their identities to each other if they were seeing each other. Marinette smiled to herself. She would discover Chat Noir’s identity. She would know who the rascal behind the mask was. She could finally know who the person who had supported and loved her for four years really was. 

Suddenly a clamour of sounds rang out from the kitchen, Marinette heard her father say “Hello there, Mr Agreste” before the front door slammed shut. Then the unmistakable voice of Gabriel Agreste, monotone and commanding, could be made out.

Adrien’s face had turned a deathly white. The steps leading up to Marinette’s room screeched and whined as the four teenagers lay in silence, unsure of what they should be doing. 

Gabriel Agreste threw the latch open and slowly marched into the room. As he stood up at his full height, his eyes glaring at his son, Marinette realised how terrifying the fashion designer really was. 

“Adrien, you are coming home with me” he stated.

“Yes Father” was the meek response.

Gabriel turned away from the room and began his descent, and Adrien followed him, but not before he looked back at the others, and mouthed ‘I'm sorry’. 

The latch fell and trio were left alone.

“Mr Agreste is kind of scary” said Alya to break the silence.

“I know. I feel sorry for Adrien. The dude has it rough.” Nino added.

"He's so quiet around his Dad, and I don't think he can say no to him" Marinette said, and the others murmured in response.

The Monopoly game didn't feel the same after that, and the three of them soon abandoned it and went their separate ways.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Adrien scuffled uncomfortably in his car seat. He was facing his Father, who stared at him with distain in the awkward silence at the back of the limousine. 

“You are testing my patience, son” he said sternly. “My deadline of the end of the mouth still stands”

Adrien gulped. That was in three days. 

“If you fail me, you can say goodbye to your life gallivanting around in a cat suit, and to your life in Paris.” 

Adrien couldn't look him in the eye. He saw outside that the car was approaching their house. 

“Do you understand?”

“Yes, Father”

The car stopped and the chauffeur opened the door.

“I will be sending out an Akuma tomorrow. I hope you will be wise enough to make the correct decision”

Gabriel launched himself out of the car without letting Adrien respond. 

-

That night Adrien tried in vain to sleep. His mind was bombarded by thoughts of her; of Ladybug. Some were good thoughts; like the freckles on her nose, or her deep blue eyes, but they were often ruined when he reminded himself of his duty to his Father, and that he had to betray his love.

He had to distract himself; he had to think about other things, things that brought him joy; like his Mother. The thought that she would be back in his life along with her kind words and calm laugh was extremely comforting to Adrien. He had to reassure himself that it would all be worth it when he saw his Mother bring her arms up to embrace him. Lavender, she always smelt like lavender. Adrien would always bury his head in her chest when she hugged him so that he could smell her. Lavender was to him, always the smell of home. But now Adrien was always reminded of his Mother’s absence when he noticed the odor of fresh lavender. 

They would be a family again, the three of them. They would have dinners filled with discussion and laughter, rather than silence. Adrien would have someone to talk to about his problems, and someone who would listen to them, and provide advice and comfort. Maybe they could go back to their holiday house in the south, that had been abandoned since his Mother’s death. They would go to the beach, Emile would sunbathe and read a book, while encouraging Gabriel to relax, enjoy the holiday. 

And eventually, he would. Adrien’s Father would stretch out his legs, lay back and forget his work just because his wife told him to. Adrien would be swimming in the Mediterranean, then run back onto the beach where his Father would pass him a towel. In the evenings they would eat dinner on the balcony at the house, where Gabriel would always complain about the mosquitoes until Emile gave him his cream, which he always forgot to put on. When it got very late, his Mother would tell him stories about her youth, about the film she starred in, and about her courtship with his Father. Gabriel would stay quiet as she weaved her tales, and he would even laugh sometimes. 

Adrien couldn’t remember the last time he heard his Father laugh. 

They would be a family, he would have a family again. 

As he continued to try and get to sleep, his mind turned to Marinette. Marinette had a crush on Chat Noir. Adrien had always thought that if there had been no Ladybug in the picture, if no mysterious black box had appeared in front of him containing a ring and a grumpy black cat-like creature when he was fourteen, pushing him into the arms of a beautiful mystery woman and changing his life, then maybe he and Marinette would have been a couple. She was sweet, and very pretty, and had a hidden assertiveness that manifested itself whenever she needed to protect her friends. It was admirable and made her a force to be reckoned with.

Perhaps he should ask her out, once this ordeal was over. Adrien doubted that he would ever be able to see Ladybug again, no matter what happened when Hawkmoth got his wish. Would his Father even return their Miraculous after he got his wish? They had never discussed it. But he doubted Ladybug would ever want to see him, so it would be pointless reclaiming the title of Chat Noir. These next days would be his last. The last time he defeated an Akuma, the last time he would make Ladybug scoff with an amazing pun, the last time he saw her win the day using her ingenuity and prowess. 

He was going to savour these next few days before he would see his Mother.


	8. Say Something

“You must look astute, as if you are lost in thought!” Cried out the director to Adrien, as the boy tried desperately to appease his wishes but was apparently failing. 

Adrien was modelling in a video advertising Agreste Fashion’s winter line and his section was being filmed in the Grand Gallery of the Louvre. The director was named Marcel Archambault, a tiny man famous for his advant garde style and more famous for his short temper and perfectionism. 

Marcel walked over to one of the paintings, a portrait of the Virgin Mary in a striking blue robe.

“Look at this artwork. I want you to gaze wistfully at the Virgin, to contemplate her sunken eyes, and let the beauty of the painting overwhelm you.” Marcel gestured dramatically with every word.

Adrien looked towards the painting with his best ‘I’m a Beautiful Fashion Model’ expression that had never failed him before, but Marcel just groaned with annoyance.

“Do not look, feel!” he exclaimed. 

Adrien tried again to admire the painting, but it was difficult; he didn't really like religious art. 

“NO NO NO NO!” Marcel shouted. The man threw his hands to his head, massaging his temple.

“Sorry” Adrien said meekly. “Maybe we could try another painting?” he offered.

Then Marcel’s assistant walked over to the director. Clearly terrified of the balding man, she said docilely “Mr Archambault, you only have one hour left in the museum.”

“THAT IS NOT ENOUGH TIME!” Marcel screeched in frustration. “IT MUST BE PERFECT!” 

“The museum insists.........” The assistant tried to argue.

“I DO NOT CARE WHAT THE MUSEUM WANTS, WOMAN!” Marcel bellowed. The poor assistant cowered in fear, running from the man. Marcel turned his attention to Adrien. “You! We will try another take” he said, still fuming. He moved to be behind the camera and screamed “Action!” out of his loudspeaker.

Adrien repeated the action of walking through the gallery, staring at the walls with his most interested expression.

“NOOOOOOOO!” Marcel screamed. “Gabriel Agreste has sent me an AMATEUR to complete my vision!”

And with that, the man stormed out of the room, leaving the crew and Adrien to look at each other with awkward sympathy.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Ladybug scanned the horizon, perched atop of the Louvre Museum, looking at the Courtyard that housed the iconic Pyramid.

She had just received an alert from the Ladyblog warning of an Akuma at the Louvre a few minutes before and had no idea what to expect.

Out of the Pyramid, a short man with balding hair, blue skin, and a costume of red and green appeared.

“I am the Auteur, and you will complete my vision!” he declared to the crowd.

The Akuma pointed his brightly coloured loudspeaker towards a group of people trying to run away from the scene. When the Auteur shouted “Action!”, a stream of purple waves flew out from the speaker. Once the waves met with the panicked bystanders, the people suddenly walked slowly, staring at nothing intently, as if in trance. Some would be turned completely still as if statues, posing like models.  
It was a bizarre tableau, to say the least. 

Ladybug noticed Chat Noir’s figure approaching her from the other side of the roof and her mood instantly brightened. She smiled widely as he drew closer. Chat Noir didn't smile in return.

“The Akuma is his loudspeaker” he told Ladybug as he crouched next to her.

“Chat Noir, about the other night......” 

“Can we leave that until we defeat the Akuma?” Chat Noir said before leaping away from the roof and into the Courtyard.

‘What's gotten into him?’ Thought Ladybug.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

She wanted to talk about the other night.

Chat Noir has hoped she’d forgotten about the whole affair. He imaged that Ladybug was preparing to let him down gently, to reject him like she had a thousand times before. It still hurt every time. He could barely look at her, he felt so embarrassed about his confession. Also, he couldn't stop thinking about the looming deadline for taking her Miraculous.

But for now, he had to worry about protecting Ladybug from the Akumatised Marcel Archambault firing shots of purple at her. The Auteur was, predictably, ignoring him. He suspected his Father was instructing the Akumas not to harm him; no point wasting energy in something he could just ask for.

Ladybug was leaping from side to side as Chat Noir attempted to grab the loudspeaker, trailing behind the Akuma like a shadow, just out of sight. He would manage to get within arm's reach of the prize, but the short Akumatised victim would move so frantically, it was becoming extremely tricky.

Then Ladybug suddenly stood still. Her foot was caught in something and she struggled to move forward. The Auteur took the opportunity to fire ‘Action’ at the demobilised superheroine. Powered by instinct, Chat Noir leapt up to Ladybug, pushing her body away from the purple waves. The two of them fell to the ground, tumbling as one before Chat Noir stabilized them in place. Ladybug was lying on her back, with Chat Noir on top, staring down at her.

Ladybug gently moved a yellow strand of hair obscuring Chat’s face away, tucking it behind his ear before moving her hand to his jawline, skimming the edge with her fingertips.

“Chat....” She whispered gently.

“That's it Chat Noir, take her Miraculous!” bellowed the Akuma from behind them. Chat Noir bawled the hands that were supporting him into fists. His Father was speaking to him through the Akuma. Ladybug drew her hand away and looked at him with confusion.

Chat Noir stood up, and helped Ladybug follow him. He then dragged her behind him, where he could act as her shield.

“Stay behind, My Lady”

“What's going on, Chat?” Ladybug replied with annoyance.

The Auteur stared at the duo with frustration, unable to attack Ladybug with Chat Noir defending her.

“Screw this!” he shouted “WHERE IS ADRIEN AGRESTE?! HE WILL OBEY TO MY VISION!”

“Adrien!” Ladybug gasped. Hearing her say his real name made Chat Noir’s heart skip a beat.

The Akuma jumped away from the pair, bounding towards the Agreste mansion, having already scoured the Louvre before.

Ladybug leapt into action, but Chat Noir tugged at her arm, stopping her.

“What are you doing? We have to make sure Adrien is safe!” She exclaimed.

“He’s not home, the Akuma won't be able to find him”

Ladybug pulled her arm away from him. “So, what do you suggest we do?”

Chat Noir was quiet.

Ladybug groaned. “Let's go”

Chat Noir followed Ladybug, as the two of them vaulted from building to building. As they neared the Agreste mansion, the pair slowed down and drew to a halt. 

Ladybug inspected the house for signs of the Akuma. He was nowhere to be found.

She moaned. “He could’ve left by now! He could be anywhere!” She glanced at Chat Noir with an expression he understood to mean ‘this is all your fault’.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Something was up with Chat. An Akuma had ignored him and Ladybug felt that he knew exactly why, but he wasn't telling her. And he had made her lose the Auteur’s tail.

Without a lead to chase, she faced Chat Noir on the rooftop overlooking Adrien’s house. 

“What happened back there?” she demanded to know.

“What do you mean?” 

Ladybug moved closer to him until their noses were almost touching.

“The Akumas are not attacking you, and you know why”

“I don't know what you're talking about, My Lady” he replied meekly.

It wasn't enough to convince Ladybug. She always knew when her partner was lying. And the fact that he was lying infuriated her.

“The Akuma, it told you to take my Miraculous!”

It angered her, that Chat Noir was hiding something from her. And she could tell that it was hurting him, that something serious was paining him. And worst of all, he wouldn't tell her- his partner, his companion, the girl he said he loved.

“I don't know anything” he said.

“Don't lie to me, Chat” Ladybug growled. 

Chat’s mouth opened, then closed again. His eyes were downcast. 

Ladybug’s heart was breaking. She moved close to him, her hands on his arms, trying to force the boy’s eyes to meet hers. They were so close to each other, yet there was something that distanced them, Ladybug knew it.

“Say something!” she pleaded. 

Suddenly, Chat Noir pressed his lips to Ladybug.

Ladybug kissed him back, her heart skipping frantically as the two moved their heads back and forth in sync, years of tension releasing with excitement. Ladybug felt Chat purr as she moaned softly. She moved her hands to his cheeks as her mouth melted into his. Neither of them could stop, addicted to the taste of each other. Ladybug lowered her arms until they were resting on Chat’s shoulders as he slid his arms to her waist. She leaned her body into his, closing the already tiny gap between them. 

Then Ladybug blacked out.


	9. A Lovely Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope I didn't keep you guys in suspense for too long :)

Chat Noir had been intensely sharing the kiss of his dreams with the woman he loved, his mind lost in her deep lips. Then he felt her stop reciprocating his kisses, her mouth unresponsive, like a mannequin’s. He drew back. Ladybug’s eyes were far from him, gazing not at him, but as if there was something that was entrancing her behind him. 

'The Akuma' Chat realized. 

He turned to see the Auteur facing them, his loudspeaker raised in his hands.

“Well done, Chat Noir. We finally have her” 

Chat’s heart sunk. He looked back at Ladybug, who didn't look at him. ‘This is it, the end’ his mind warned. 

“Give me her Miraculous, then” the Akuma demanded, as he reached his hand out in expectation. 

Chat Noir tried to find a way out, to break Ladybug out of her spell; then he got an idea.

“Adrien!” the Akuma shouted.

“Hey, Marcel? What's the word you call out when you want to stop shooting a film? It's on the tip of my tongue......”

“What are you talking about?” the Auteur cried out impatiently.

“It's something like ‘snip’? No that's not it; it's what you do with scissors...”

“YOU MEAN ‘CUT’?” the Auteur screamed.

Ladybug blinked rapidly, her head moving rapidly as she broke out of the Akuma’s spell. Chat Noir whispered to her “run” before the superheroine skipped away, out his grasp. 

“Oops” said Chat Noir. 

“Go after her, you imbecile!” the Akuma ordered.

“Yes Father” Chat Noir hopped away in the direction of Ladybug.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Ladybug found refuge at the top of an old nearby marketplace. She tried to comprehend the last few moments; first, the kiss with Chat, then the moment she blacked out completely, only woken by the words ‘CUT’, then looking back to Chat Noir, unsure of how much time has passed.

The blonde superhero appeared at her side. 

“You were hypnotized by the Akuma, but I managed to get you out of it” 

“Well done, kitty” Ladybug congratulated him.

“Thanks” he replied nervously, his hand scratching his head. 

An awkward silence followed; the kiss and all of its implications heavied the air between them.

“Let's get that frustrated filmmaker ’s Akuma!” Ladybug declared, if only to break the quiet.

Chat Noir grinned, warming Ladybug’s heart, and the two of them travelled back in the direction of the Akuma. 

On the roof of the Agreste mansion, they saw the Akuma roaming the courtyard, as if expecting something.

“Lucky Charm!”

A red and black bottle dropped into Ladybug’s arms.

“Champagne?” she asked, reading the label. 

“I'd love some My Lady, but is this really the time for a party?”

Ladybug rolled her eyes and grinned.

She formulated her plan and informed Chat.

The duo prowled closer to the Akumatised man, then Ladybug passed the bottle to Chat as he shook it vigorously and then aimed it cork-side towards the Auteur.

As Chat Noir readied his weapon, Ladybug jumped down as silently as possible, hiding out of sight.

Then the Champagne cork hit the Auteur, knocking his head back as he cried in surprise. Then a fountain of liquid poured onto the Akuma, short-circuiting his loudspeaker as the object screeched in failure. As the Auteur looked around trying to find the root of the attack, Ladybug took the loudspeaker out of his slippery hands, smashing it and then de-evilising the butterfly caught in it. She then picked up the discarded Champagne bottle and cast Miraculous Ladybug.

Her earrings beeped as she tried to find Chat Noir, who had disappeared. Out of the cover of her eye, Ladybug noticed a flash of black sprinting away from her. She followed it until she was back on the roof, with Chat Noir. 

He didn't say anything for a short while. And then Ladybug said something she never expected to.

“Meet me at the apartment at 7pm” Her Miraculous rang out again.

Chat Noir nodded as Ladybug made a quick escape.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Chat Noir looked back at Ladybug as she swung away elegantly. He thought back to their kiss and his heart swelled. It may not have been perfect, or how he had always imagined their first kiss, but he wouldn't change it for the world. He could live the rest of his life happy that he had kissed Ladybug, and savour over every second of the kiss until he could recite the entire scene backwards.

But he now knew that Ladybug had a weakness. Which gave him an opportunity. 

He stayed on the roof, taking a short moment to relax before the whatever storm was awaiting him. The evening was approaching, and the sky was bathed in a gentle pastel orange sunset. The city always looked better from a rooftop. 

Rooftop hopping would probably be what he'll miss the most, aside from Ladybug. 

Chat Noir signed and descended back into the Courtyard where his Father was calmly pushing a panicked Marcel Archambault into the back of a limo, apologising profusely. He transformed back into Adrien and waited until his Father turned away from the director and to him.

Gabriel said nothing, just looked Adrien square in the eye before marching back into the mansion. Adrien trailed behind until the two of them were safely hidden in Gabriel’s office.

“What on earth compelled you to behave so idiotically? We had her in our grasp” his Father clinched his fist for emphasis.

“I'm sorry, Father. It was an accident, I swear” 

“Enough! I clearly cannot trust you to carry out such a simple task!”

“But Father........” Adrien tried to argue, but Gabriel cut him off.

“No buts! Give me your Miraculous!” he ordered.

Adrien hesitantly reached for his ring but stopped.

“I can get you her Miraculous by tomorrow” 

Gabriel’s eyebrows raised up. 

“But you have to promise that you'll give me back both my and Ladybug’s Miraculouses when you get your wish” 

Gabriel was quiet for a moment.

“Agreed” he said, then turned his back to Adrien and moved to his desk to indicate the conversation was over.

As Adrien walked out of the room, his Father reminded him:

“By tomorrow”

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

When Marinette arrived back at her balcony, her heart was pumping rapidly with adrenaline, and not just from the fight with the Akuma.

“Tikki, what do I do??” she asked the Kwami.

“What do you want to do, Marinette?”

“I don’t know!” 

“Do you want to kiss Chat Noir again?” 

“Yes” Marinette replied without hesitation.

“Then tell him, silly!” Tikki said joyfully.

It was so simple; she liked him, he liked her; they should be a couple. Marinette signed. Liking someone who liked you back was so much better than liking someone who didn't. 

But that meant that she had to tell Chat How she felt, and she didn't have the strongest track record when it came to talking to boys she liked. 

So, she rehearsed everything she would say to the superhero- about the romantic dinner, the kiss, his stupid jokes, his compassion, his tenderness- about how much she loved him, and apologise for how long it took for her to realise. By the time she had perfected her lines, it was nearing 7pm.

-

Ladybug flew over to the apartment to see Chat Noir siting on a floor pillow, with a mug in his hands.

“Would you like some herbal tea?” he asked, pointing to the table, where a kettle and mug stood. Ladybug poured herself some tea, then joined Chat on the floor. She took a sip; the tea was nice, and just the right temperature.

“It's a lovely night” Chat commented, and Ladybug murmured in agreement; it was beginning to get warmer, as spring crept into view.  
Ladybug took a deep breath. 

“Chat....about that kiss.......” Chat Noir just patiently waited for her to go on “I think we should talk about it........” Ladybug continued nervously “not that it wasn't good! It was great! Great kiss! And we .......you .......me” She dropped her head into her hands. Why was this so hard?

Chat Noir stood up silently, and extended a hand to Ladybug, who accepted. He pulled her up and viewed her with a look that reminded her of Adrien. She questioned herself ‘Why are you thinking of Adrien at a time like this?’ and focused instead of the boy in front of her. On the muscles protruding out of the opening of his suit, on his incredible eyes that were gazing at her.

“Come inside” he whispered. He still had her hand in his as he led her inside of the darkened area.

It was a small studio, the large bed situated at its centre. The whole room was partially obscured as the only lighting came from many candles scattered around. 

“My Lady” Chat Noir muttered in a way that made Ladybug’s heart skip a beat. He took her other hand into his softly. “Tell me everything”

Ladybug tried to find the right words but they escaped her. But it didn't matter; she kissed his lips lightly, her skin grazing his. Her hands traversed to his chest as the kiss intensified, Chat deepening his tongue smoothly. 

She led him over to the bed as she slowly descended into the sheets in her back. Chat Noir moved with her, settling on top of Ladybug on four legs. 

And as it turned out, their suits could be very accommodating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, there won't be a sex scene. I don't anyone wants to see me write one of those, me least of all.
> 
> -Billi-


	10. Blinding Light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've made it so that Adrien knows about Master Fu, but Marinette doesn't.  
> My fic, my rules :)
> 
> -Billi

“Chat......” 

“It's ok, go back to sleep” 

-

A small sliver of light from where the curtains were not fully drawn illuminated the room in a gentle haze. The only sound was a pigeon cooing on the balcony. 

Ladybug opened her eyes to the large curtained window, blinking slowly as she realised where she was. Then she smiled as she remembered the night before. 

It has been awkward in some parts, as the two of them were inexperienced, but the close rapport that they had built up fighting evil had translated well to more intimate matters.

Ladybug turned away from the window to face Chat Noir’s side of the bed. In the place she expected to see the boy she instead found an abandoned pillow and empty sheets.

‘He must be the bathroom’ she thought ‘or maybe he left to get us breakfast’. Ladybug beamed at the concept as she gently lifted her body from beneath the bedsheets. Then she noticed that something was wrong- very wrong- as she felt and looked at her clothes.

She was Marinette, not Ladybug.

“Tikki!” she cried out, but there was no response. She called out for the Kwami again but the apartment was silent.

She moved up her hands to feel for her earrings and gasped as she realised they were gone. She began to frantically search through the sheets, rummaging behind the pillows even though she knew it was in vain- her earrings never fell off. 

“Chat!” she yelled. Marinette flew out of bed and slammed open the door to the bathroom, to find it untouched. “Chat Noir!” she wailed, as her mind began to comprehend what had happened.

Someone had taken her Miraculous. 

Marinette began to scour the entire apartment, for something, anything. She prayed that she would find a note from Chat Noir or see him arrive with coffee and an explanation. 

Marinette’s anxiety increased after she found nothing in the immaculate flat. She had no way to reach Chat Noir. She had nowhere to go, she had no idea who had given her the Miraculous originally, and no one else who knew anything about them.

Marinette broke down, crumbled to the floor and began to cry.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Adrien stood on the moving elevator, checking he still had the earrings in his pocket. He also checked for Plagg, who, just as he had been for days, was ignoring Adrien.

The doors opened into Hawkmoth’s lair, the man standing in the shadows. Adrien approached his Father tentatively. As Hawkmoth stayed silent Adrien pulled the earrings out of his pocket and handed them over. Hawkmoth took the Miraculous eagerly, smiling at his son with something close enough to pride. Adrien, unadjusted to feeling appreciation from his Father, felt his heart swell. 

Adrien slid his ring off of his finger and placed it in Gabriel’s grasp. 

“Finally!” he exclaimed. He placed the pieces of jewellery onto a small pedestal. He opened a book that Adrien recognised; it was the one he stole from his Father years before.

Hawkmoth began to read aloud from the tome in strange language Adrien didn't recognise; it was a bizarre mixture of Mandarin with some words of something like Arabic merged in. The only elements that Adrien could understand were ‘Emile Agreste’, the rest sounded rhythmic, like a chant. 

The Miraculouses started to glow softly, a yellow light radiating from them as they hummed gently. Gabriel continued to chant, his volume increasing as well as his intensity. 

The hum from the Miraculouses began to rise in pitch, a screeching noise emanating from them like the call of a creature in pain. 

“Stop!” Adrien cried, but Hawkmoth continued to chant in verses as if he was possessed.

The high-pitched scream advanced on, it's frequency piercing Adrien’s ears. He moved towards the pedestal. Black, fragmented streaks began to form across the bodies of the jewellery like the fault lines of earthquakes. The Miraculouses were cracking. They were cracking as if they were exposed to ice cold winds, and it was breaking them as they whined like infants calling for their Mother. Their light was now blinding, illuminating the whole dungeon. 

“You're breaking them!” Adrien protested, a hand guarding his eyes from the blaze.

Hawkmoth ignored him again. Frustrated, Adrien seized the screaming Miraculouses in his hands. They burned his hands but suddenly calmed in temperature as Hawkmoth stopped his chant in surprise. 

“Adrien! What are you doing?!”

Adrien ran. He felt as if he was flying as his legs carried him into the elevator. As he desperately pressed the button to go up Gabriel called out “Gorilla, get him!”

Adrien stood still as the elevator doors closed. The accession left him a few seconds to put on his damaged ring. 

“Plagg!” he cried. No answer. “Claws Out!” he demanded desperately, but no black Kwami came to his aid. He put the earrings in his pocket.

Adrien had reached his Father’s office. He ran out the front door and into the street and turned to see Gorilla rapidly approaching him. He sprinted away, dodging passers-by and swerving from cars. He saw a Metro entrance and bolted towards it, descending rapidly down the stairs. He jumped over the turnstile. He ran for the nearest train. As he dashed down the stairway, he heard the alarm signalling the closing of the doors. 

He lunged forward into the nearest gate, managing to slide his body in-between before the door slammed shut. He almost fell into the train, but he composed himself. No one else in the car noticed him; he was just another rushing commuter.

Adrien looked back to see Gorilla just approach the back of the train as it moved away from him. 

As it was past rush hour, Adrien was able to find a place to sit, as he tried to calm the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He looked at the map on the roof of the car; if he changed lines at the next stop, he could be within walking distance of Master Fu’s massage parlour in no time. Or if he got off at the third stop, he could go back to the apartment where Ladybug- Marinette- was sleeping.

The shock of the reveal of Ladybug’s identity was still clinging to him, even as he tried to put it at the back of his mind.

Marinette. It was her. The whole time. The girl who sat beside him in class and the girl who always saved the day were the same. Ladybug had given him a lucky charm and played video games with him for hours and Marinette had kissed him to break an Akuma’s spell. 

The image of Marinette sleeping, her dark hair swept over her pillows, released from her usual pigtails, was engrained into Adrien’s mind. 

He couldn't bring her back her Miraculous broken. No, he had to go to Master Fu and try to mend them, then beg her forgiveness. He had hoped he could get Ladybug her earrings back before she woke up, but he hadn't expected the ceremony to damage the Miraculouses like that. 

Luckily, he knew a man with all the answers.

-

Adrien knocked on the door to Master Fu’s parlour timidly. He was afraid of the reaction from the Guardian, and what punishment was awaiting him. 

“Come in” 

Adrien walked in to find the old man mediating.

“Ah! Adrien! What a pleasure!” he greeted joyfully. Waze moved out of his hiding spot. 

Adrien tried to find the words, but he just took out Ladybug’s earrings and placed them along with ring into the mat in front of him.

Master Fu gasped loudly. “What happened?!” 

“I'm sorry......” Adrien replied meekly. 

Master Fu moved to his kitchen frantically. Adrien heard the sound of pots and pans smashing and clanging into each other as the old man exclaimed swear words in Mandarin. 

Master Fu returned with a basket full of colourful vials, as well as a variety of herbs in bags. He began to mix substances together into a powder, at great speed, adding tiny gems and seeds into his concoction. Adrien sat down and watched him. Once it was all ground into a fine powder, Master Fu poured it into the Miraculouses. A cloud of white enveloped the room, making Adrien cough as the powder blinded him for a moment. 

Then the fog lifted to reveal the room as clean as before, not a speck of the white dust to be seen. The Miraculouses were the only element affected, now white as a sheet. 

Master Fu relaxed, his legs folding into a kneeling position. 

“Would you like to tell me what happened, Adrien?”

Adrien looked to the floor “My Father is..........Hawkmoth.” He took a deep breath “and he told me that if I got him the Miraculouses.......... he would bring my Mother back” 

Adrien threw his head into his hands as he felt his eyes water, tears threatening to arrive. 

He waited for Master Fu’s disappointed words to ring in his ears, but instead he felt the old man's hand on his shoulder, gripping it gently. He looked up to see Fu, staring with........sympathy? 

“It's ok, young Adrien” 

“What?” asked Adrien with confusion.

“You made the mistake of putting family over duty. This is something I am very familiar with. You are young, and you trusted your Father and wanted your Mother back”

“So, you're not mad at me?”

Master Fu furrowed his brow and pulled away.

“No. I am very mad at you. You did something that could have destroyed the Cat and Ladybug Miraculouses for good!”

Adrien was crying now. He couldn't believe how irresponsible he had been. Master Fu....Ladybug.... they had all trusted him. 

“But the fact that you managed to rescue the Miraculouses and bring them to me means that you are willing to try and rectify your mistakes, yes?”

Adrien nodded. He wanted nothing more than to rewind time back to the day before and just tell Ladybug the truth. 

“That is what you must do. You must do everything you can to restore balance”

“What can I do?” Adrien asked.

“You have to defeat your Father” 

Adrien nodded again. It hurt, but he knew that that was his duty. He had to redeem himself, and that meant finally defeating Hawkmoth.

He looked back to the white Miraculouses. “Why did that happen?” he asked his Master.

“There is a very good reason we do not allow people to use the Creation and Destruction Miraculouses to make wishes. Nothing can be made out of nothing. In order to gain something, something of equal value must be lost.” Master Fu took a sip out of his tea, then offered some to Adrien, who declined. “Many years ago, a greedy man stole the Ladybug and Cat Miraculouses, and wished for incredible wealth. He got his wish, but it meant that a small country became suddenly impoverished.” He shook his head “Many people died of starvation and war” 

Adrien tried to make sense of this information. 

“So.....the Miraculouses would be destroyed in exchange of my Mother’s life?” 

Master Fu shook his head “Not the Miraculouses themselves, but the life within them”

“The Kwami?”

“Yes. The state of the Miraculouses and of their Kwami are tied together. To take the life of a Kwami, you must destroy their Miraculouses”

Adrien sat back. Plagg......and Ladybug’s Kwami, Gabriel would have to .......kill........ them, in order to resurrect his Mother. Not only that, his Father would also be willing to rid the world of the scared Miraculouses, that protected humanity. Adrien couldn't let that happen, he was tasked to protect his ring. Also, he loved Plagg. 

“Will you be able to restore the Miraculouses?” he asked Master Fu.

“Yes. Luckily you managed to save them before they were beyond repair.”

“How long will it take?”

“A few days, maybe less” 

Silence fell. Adrien considered his options.

“Can I stay with you? I have nowhere to sleep” 

“Of course.” Master Fu replied. 

-

A few hours later Adrien asked if it would be possible to talk to Plagg. Master Fu said yes and Adrien slipped on the ring, that had already absorbed the white dust and lost some of his cracks, but was still in need of repair.

Plagg flew out. The little creature looked much worse for wear; he was scruffy, his fur matted and marked with scars. He appeared as if he had just got into a fight, a bad one. 

Plagg scanned the room, and when he found Adrien’s eyes he turned away, but Adrien called out:

“I'm so sorry Plagg. You were right, I shouldn't have trusted Hawkmoth.”

Plagg looked back to the boy.

“You're such a stupid kid” he said, but kindly.

“I'm going to make this right. But I need your forgiveness” Adrien pleaded.

Plagg glanced towards Master Fu, who lowered his head and nodded gently.

“I forgive you, Adrien. But you need to listen to me! I was worried about you” said Plagg.

“I won't ignore you again, Plagg, I promise”

The Kwami surprised Adrien by embracing his head, rubbing their foreheads together. 

When the moment ended and Plagg drew back, Adrien asked him “Can you transform me?”

“I think so” 

Adrien looked at Master Fu.

“I need to talk to Ladybug”

The old man nodded understandably.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter tomorrow or the day after.
> 
> -Billi


	11. Running Away In The Rain

Chat Noir stood on Marinette’s roof terrace, his stomach bursting with butterflies. The sky was grey and heavy rain was pouring into the roof, and onto Chat Noir’s hair and suit.

“Marinette!” he eventually called out. 

Then suddenly, without warning, he detransformed, making him feel the rain on his skin even more. Plagg slowly crawled out.

“I'm sorry Adrien, I don’t have enough energy to keep you transformed very long” he whispered.

“It's ok. Have some of the Camembert in my pocket” 

The Kwami smiled and hid away. 

“Adrien?” 

Marinette stood at the door, her face covered in surprise. She had shielded her head from the rain with a plastic raincoat, and her eyes seemed tried. 

“How did you get up here?” she asked. 

“Err ....” Adrien peeked at the fire escape that climbed over the side of the building. “I climbed?” 

“Get inside!” she beckoned him over “You'll freeze to death!” 

Adrien followed her into the warm pink room. Ladybug’s room. To think of all the times he had been in this room, unaware that it was the abode of his love. 

Marinette was digging through her wardrobe. Adrien noticed on the large desk, next to a sewing machine, was a fabric of red with black polka dots. On closer inspection, Adrien noticed that it was some sort of leotard, with legs and arms attached. It was a.......Ladybug Costume. 

Adrien gasped. She wasn't going to become Ladybug? Without her powers? Was she?

Marinette came over and handed him a towel. Adrien dried his soaking wet hair. 

“What were you doing outside in the rain like that?” she asked.

Adrien was quiet. 

“You could've gotten a cold!” Marinette exclaimed with concern. 

“Are you ok?” he asked her, as in the bedroom light he had noticed her puffy eyes and red cheeks.

Marinette rubbed her eye. “I'm fine.”

Adrien knew she was lying. But right now, he had to focus on telling her the truth. 

“I need you to sit down” Adrien told her.

Marinette looked confused but sat down into her pink sofa. Adrien took a deep breath. 

“There's something I need to tell you............”

As Adrien started, he was interrupted by a commotion downstairs, with footsteps scuttling around and a door slamming open. 

“Where is my son, M. Dupain?!” a voice screamed.

His Father. 

“You can't let my Father know I'm here!” he pleaded with Marinette “Please” 

The stairs leading to Marinette’s bedroom began to screech. Adrien desperately searched for a hiding spot.

Marinette pulled him in the direction of her bedroom window, opening it and pushing Adrien outside. 

Adrien climbed into the fire escape, then turned to Marinette. He had to tell her.

“Marinette, I........” 

The girl slammed the window shut, her attention drawn to the slender figure that had just entered her room. Adrien saw his Father out of the corner of his eye before he ducked out of sight. 

Plagg moved tentatively out of his hiding spot. 

“Adrien................. you have to get me back to Master Fu’s, right now” he said hoarsely. He coughed. 

Adrien looked back at Ladybug’s window, then descended the fire escape staircase as quickly as possible.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

Marinette stood back as Adrien’s Father scowled at her.

“Where is he?” he demanded.

“I don't know. I haven't seen him in days” she lied.

Gabriel inspected the room from where he stood. His eyes were caught on something, and he walked over to the window where Adrien had escaped. Gabriel glared out of the window at the storm raging outside. 

After a few seconds he looked away to the rest of the loft. When his eyes landed in Marinette, he paused. He placed his hand on his chin, as if in thought. The motion unsettled Marinette, as well as his eyes glaring at her. 

“If you see him, do not hesitate to tell me.” He ordered.

He opened up the latch and as he began his descent, he turned behind and said “I'll be back”, then closed the latch.

Marinette ran to the window to find the fire escape empty. She poked her head out and, in the distance, she saw the small figure of Adrien running away in the rain. She closed the window and walked back to her desk. 

What was he doing? Adrien was clearly in big trouble with his Father and had been forced to find shelter at her home. She hoped he would find somewhere to stay. His Father seemed furious. She got her phone out and sent him a short message to see if he was ok. 

Marinette sat down at her desk and continued to work on her Ladybug costume. She going to wear it to confront Chat Noir at the next opportunity. It wasn't a great plan, but it was all she could do. And besides that, it took her mind away from Chat. Just thinking about his green eyes brought tears to her eyes. This was her first ever heartbreak, and she wasn't taking it well.

-

Even as the rain continued to rhythmically drizzle on her roof and night fell on the city, Marinette was hunched over her sewing machine, yawning as she tried to perfect the gloves of her suit. 

She slowly sat back up and signed loudly. She then heard a tapping noise coming from her window. It was different to the sound of the rain, harsher, louder, like someone was frantically knocking to be led in.

Chat Noir? 

Marinette approached the window and made out a dark figure in the fire escape. 

As she leaned forward to open the window, a hand rapidly grabbed her from behind. Her mouth was covered by a gloved man who muffled her screams. In his other hand, the man clasped her arms. Marinette struggled to get out of his grip, but the stranger was absurdly strong, and grasped her tightly. Marinette felt helpless without her Ladybug powers. She tried to shout for help but all that came out of her mouth were subdued cries, muted by the storm outside.

Suddenly Marinette heard the sound of something hitting something else, hard.

And then everything was black.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

“Found it!”

Adrien shouted this as he threw up a white charger in his hands. He had been looking for a phone charger since he had woken up that morning, and his search had finally reaped a reward. 

He plugged in his dead phone as he joined Master Fu for breakfast. 

“You should be able to use your Miraculous to transform for longer, but you will not be able to use any of your specials powers.” The elderly man said. 

“I still have a few days to plan my attack” Adrien confirmed. He had been running through methods to take down Hawkmoth in his head all night. But it was useless; he needed Ladybug; she was the one with all the bright ideas. 

Master Fu nodded “I will help any way I can”

Adrien’s phone lit up and he looked at his messages.

A thousand from his Father, predictably. One from Marinette. And strangely enough, a couple from Alya.

Alya: Have you seen the news?

Then a few minutes later:

Alya: Marinette in danger

Adrien felt his heart plummet in fear. He turned the TV on rapidly. 

“.........kidnapped a civilian named Marinette Dupain-Cheng, a 17-year-old Parisian. The supervillain sent out the following video message” a reporter spoke from her desk. The screen flashed to show a video of Marinette tied up at Hawkmoth’s lair, her hands and feet tied back with a gag in her mouth. Hawkmoth came out of the shadows to turn the camera.

“Chat Noir, you will bring me your and Ladybug’s Miraculouses, or your friend gets it!” he declared. He turned to Marinette looking pleadingly at the camera, her voice ringing out a muffled cry.

Back at the TV studio, the reporter said something about a ‘Ninja Akuma’ but Adrien was too busy grabbing his ring to fully listen. He put Ladybug’s earrings into his pocket.

“Be careful, your Miraculous is still fragile” Master Fu warned. 

Adrien transformed and jumped out the window and started to leap towards his childhood home. 

“Wait” Master Fu cried out. “I have an idea”


	12. Save Him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some tame descriptions of violence, blood and injury. 
> 
> -Billi-

Marinette had no idea where she was. She had been asleep the whole journey to Hawkmoth’s lair and had no way to tell how much time had passed. She wasn’t even sure that she was still in France. All she knew was that she was thirsty and cold. She couldn’t move her body up since her hands and legs were tied together which forced her to sit uncomfortably on the hard, concrete floor in the dark. She could see Hawkmoth pacing back and forth. He was a little shorter than she had expected, but he carried in him a coldness that was frightening.

He didn’t seem to know she was Ladybug. Nothing in his treatment of her indicated he thought of her as nothing but a harmless hostage. The most worrying new information was that he knew that Chat Noir had her Miraculous. Marinette had wondered before if Chat Noir was working with Hawkmoth and if that was why he had taken her earrings from her. The villain’s words from when he was recording his message to the superhero neither confirmed nor disproved her suspicions.

Next to Hawkmoth was the Ninja King, an extremely large man wearing all black clothing and masked face that had been Akumatised by Hawkmoth, who carried on him a large blade that was in a sheath attached to his waist. Marinette presumed that the Akuma was hidden in a comic book with Ninjas on the cover that the man kept in his suit but would routinely remove to admire and read. Ninja King had spent the last day magically turning Parisians into highly-trained Ninjas. Those victims were currently hidden in the shadows of Hawkmoth’s lair, waiting for their target, Chat Noir, to arrive. A Ninja Army. It would seem ridiculous if these transformed people were not the ones who had abducted Ladybug.

“Where the hell is he?” Hawkmoth screamed to no-one in particular. His anger was terrifying, like a bull scraping his roof on the floor before raging towards the Matador.

Ninja King was similarly impatient for the superhero to arrive. He was, from what Marinette could tell, a man who was obsessed with violence and action. 

Light slowly flooded into the sombre room from the far side as the sliding doors opened. Hands on hips, a dark figure stood. Marinette could only make out the silhouette, but she recognised who it was once he spoke out.

“Let her go, Hawkmoth”

Marinette tried desperately to warn Chat Noir, but thanks to the gag in her mouth, all that came out were muffled screams. She was at the same time overcome with relief to see him, but also angry that he had managed to fall into Hawkmoth’s trap.

Ninja King moved forward in anticipation, the order to strike almost escaping his lips. Hawkmoth put up a hand to tell him ‘no’, and the large man retreated.

“Chat Noir” Hawkmoth said, deliberating over every syllable like the name was new to him.

Chat stood up at his full height, and there was determination in his stance. He strode across the room.

“Let. Her. Go.”

“Not until we accomplish our shared goal” Hawkmoth replied with authority.

“I won’t let you destroy the Miraculouses” Chat Noir said.

Hawkmoth pinched the space between his eyes and signed.

“What has more value to you than the life of your Mother?” he asked the superhero.

 _‘Mother?’_ Marinette tried to follow the conversation. Did Hawkmoth want to _destroy_ the Miraculouses?

“You can’t bring a person back from the dead. It’s not right. We can’t go back” said Chat Noir.

“How about the life of your friend here? Do you value that?” Hawkmoth indicated Marinette with his hand.

“Don’t you dare touch her!” Chat Noir shouted. He walker faster and placed his hand onto his baton.  

“Give me the Miraculouses and I won’t have to”

“No, Father” Chat Noir declared.

Marinette gasped. Chat Noir was Hawkmoth’s son. This explained some things but confused others. It explained why Chat had taken her Miraculouses, but not why he had waited four years to do so.

Chat Noir pulled out his baton and began to charge towards his Father. Hawkmoth nodded to Ninja King, who put his hands in his mouth and whistled loudly. Marinette screamed as loud as her voice would allow, but she couldn’t say the words to warn Chat Noir.

As the superhero ran, baton in hand, members of the Ninja King’s army began to descend onto the boy, leaping with precision and accuracy, racing towards their target like a colony of mice. Chat Noir was less graceful. He extended his baton and tossed it around indiscriminately, thumping each attacker hard. But there were too many. The army seemed inexhaustible, with fighters crawling out of every abandoned nook and cranny of the lair. Every time Chat Noir managed to swat one away from him, another Ninja would take their place. The boy had no rest to just leap away on his baton, the onslaught taking all of his attention.

Then, a young woman seized the baton in her hands. Chat clutched the pole in his two hands as the woman tried to pull it out of his grasp. The two of them stood in opposition for a while, each attempting to pull the baton towards them. Sweat creeped onto Chat’s brow, as he tensed in concentration to keep his rod. He lurched in pain suddenly, losing his grip on his weapon as one of the Ninjas had kicked him from behind. The baton removed from the brawl, Chat Noir struggled to fend off his aggressors, succumbing to them as they dragged him towards Hawkmoth. His face was bloody, with a small bruise starting on the edge of his right eye.

Chat Noir tried to fight against the tide of people pushing him forward, but it was too much.  Hawkmoth slowly marched in the direction of the boy until he was facing his bloody face.

“Give me his hand” he ordered.

One of the Ninjas, an old man, grabbed Chat’s right hand, hard. The elder used his newfound strength to pull Chat Noir’s arm towards Hawkmoth. Chat fought against him, his hand shaking as other Ninjas joined in shoving Chat’s arm until he gave in and his hand was directly in front of his adversary. Hawkmoth, as stone-faced as ever, gripped Chat Noir’s wrist and pulled his hand up. His fingers were raised to the hand as he suddenly cried out “Where is it!?”

Chat Noir wasn’t wearing his ring. Both of his hands were empty of any jewellery.

“Search him” Hawkmoth commanded.

The army began to hunt for the Miraculous, sifting through his pockets and patting him down frantically. Then, a high-pitched noise rang out for a few seconds, then transformed into a loud sound similar to air releasing.

The room became swiftly covered in a haze of white smoke that obscured everything in a snowy fog. Marinette couldn’t see anything around her as she coughed. She could hear the sound of others in the room coughing, as well as the sounds of weight hitting the floor, bodies conflicting against each other and people crying out in pain and confusion.

Abruptly, Marinette felt the sensation of skin grazing her own and hands moving across the rope that tied her arms behind her back.

“Hey there Princess” was whispered in her ear.

Marinette let her body loosen itself as her bondage was removed. Once she was free she turned to face Chat Noir, who was crouched down and gazing at her.

Marinette slapped him across the face.

“Why did you leave!? Why did you take them!?” she demanded, her eyes beginning to tear.

The smoke was clearing slowly, and Marinette could see Chat Noir’s face more clearly as he looked at her intently.

“Ladybug I’m so sorry I shouldn’t have…….”

Suddenly, a hand rapidly seized Marinette by the mouth. She felt another hand clutch her stomach and drag her back. She tried to fight back, but she was already weak from the last few hours of no food or water.

“MARINETTE!” Chat Noir shouted as he tried to reach her by the hand as she just slipped out of his grasp. As she was quickly pulled away she saw Chat Noir disappear into the fog.

“Give me the Miraculouses NOW!” her captor, who Marinette now realised was Hawkmoth, screamed. Marinette looked up at his face. His white hair was undone, strands of it flailing on his cheeks as he desperately twisted his body in circles trying to check the space around him. His suit was in state of disarray; the buttons of his shirt were open and his coat had a tear through the middle.

“Ninja King, get his Miraculous!” Hawkmoth screeched.

“I can’t see him, Boss” was the response from the Akuma.

The fog was slowly begging to lift, and the figures of some of the army could be seen, as well as the Ninja King, frantically swinging his sabre in front of him as if he was fending off invisible creatures.

“WHERE IS HE?!” Hawkmoth’s voice had now lost all of his authority and cool. The man grasped Marinette so hard that she struggled to breathe. Marinette thrashed her legs around, but Hawkmoth had a death grip on the girl. If only she were Ladybug, she could stand a chance.

The mist had cleared. Only a few hints of the smoke remained, clinging to the ground. The crowd of Ninjas looked around in confusion. Chat Noir was nowhere to be found.

“Chat Noir! Show your face!” Hawkmoth screamed.

“Yes Father” a voice rang out from above. Marinette looked up to see a flash of black drop rapidly from the ceiling and hit Hawkmoth in the jaw, knocking him down to the ground. Marinette remained attached to the supervillain, his grip unfaltering, and she flew to the ground with Hawkmoth. The man was able to break Marinette’s fall as she was knocked into him. The pair of them lay on the floor.

“Marinette! Are you ok?” Chat Noir cried out as he rushed to her side. Hawkmoth had his arm now around her neck, and was harshly forcing pressure onto her, choking her. Marinette urgently gasped for air, but she could feel her windpipe being blocked as she struggled.

“Stop!” Chat pleaded.

“GIVE ME THE MIRACULOUSES!!!!!” Hawkmoth shrieked. “OR I CHOKE HER”

Marinette was breathing less and less. She could feel herself falling into unconsciousness, her eyes closing themselves.

“OK”

Then Hawkmoth released his hold, and Marinette took the greatest breath of her life as air began to fill her lungs. Bare hands gently lifted her head up as she coughed.

“Marinette, are you ok?”

Marinette opened her eyes wide to see………. Adrien? Gazing down at her, softly holding her face in his hands. 

“Adrien…. what are you doing here?” she questioned.

She turned her gaze to see Hawkmoth, back facing then, holding a necklace-sized chain in his hands. As he peered closer she saw that the chain was adorned with Chat Noir’s Miraculous.

“Where is Chat Noir?” she asked Adrien.

●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●

“Marinette…….” Adrien started, trying to tell her everything, but Marinette was already at her feet.

“We have to get the Miraculouses back” she declared. 

“Marinette, wait!” She was ready to race over to Hawkmoth, but Adrien restrained her. “Let’s think about this”

Marinette took a step back and inspected the space around her. She focused on something on the high end of an adjacent wall. Adrien followed her gaze to a hook attached to the wall. Marinette scoured the rest of the den, then ran over a pile of rope, the type used to tie her up, discarded. She grabbed the closest strand of chord. Adrien followed behind her and helped her to tie a knot to the end of the rope.  Marinette lifted it up above her head, twirling it like a lasso, years of experience with her yoyo allowing her to easily slip the end of the chord onto the hook.

She looked over to Adrien, who nodded. He understood. He tugged on the rope for good measure, then increased his height by climbing onto the side of the lair. Hawkmoth was continuing to slowly stroll away on the large walkway in the centre of the room, his back to the duo.

Adrien gripped on the rope, then launched himself towards his Father, swinging like Tarzan at great speed. His right hand was poised to capture the Miraculouses as he neared.

“Watch out!” the large Akumatised man in a ninja costume ran forward, pulling his sword out of his sheath. Adrien continued to swing on the ceiling as the ninja flung his sabre towards him. 

Adrien felt a swift pain appear in his stomach. It tore through him as he lost his grip on the rope. He flew to the floor. His body hit the floor, hard. He screamed out in agony as the pain increased, like thorns running through his bloodstream, his head bashing the concrete. Everything grew faint.

 “NO!” Gabriel screamed.

Adrien moved his head up an inch to see a long, black, oblong object protruding from his stomach. A hand seized the item and pulled it out to reveal it as the handle on a sword. Adrien yelled as the blade was removed from him, and blood began to ooze from his abdomen. As he fell to his side, Adrien saw the figure of the Akumatised Ninja run away as Marinette rushed closer.

Hawkmoth’s hands lifted Adrien’s head. Adrien looked into his Father’s eyes.

“Give her the earrings” the boy whispered. “She can heal me”

Marinette kneeled down to Adrien’s side, her face fraught with worry. Adrien gave her a small smile.

Hawkmoth reached for the Ladybug Miraculous out of his pocket. He passed them to Marinette, arm outstretched.

“Save him” He said.

Marinette didn’t hesitate and took the earrings.

“Tikki, Spots On!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, since I have some schoolwork to redo this month and I'm going to be working all of August, I don't know when the last chapter will be uploaded. I'll try and find the time to write it, I promise :)
> 
>  
> 
> -Billi-


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